Employee of the Month 2: The Super BURN Edition
by bloodrosered
Summary: Brand spankin new 'E of M! Ruby, a boxgirl at Super Club, is promoted to manager. She secretly has feelings for her best friend and coworker, Zack. When the new cashier shows up, getting his attention, her true feelings begin to emerge.
1. Prologue: Long Time, No See

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH 2

PROLOGUE

Long time, No See

A brown haired man and a bleach-blonde man came into the orientation room, sitting in flimsy chairs. The brown haired man sat there, arms crossed, sitting with a cocky smile. His face was unshaven and his hair was rather long and shaggy, wearing a blue striped shirt and zip-up sweatshirt and jeans. His name is Zack Bradley.

The bleach-blonde wore a green shirt and a white tie and khakhi pants. His name was Vince Downey.

Soon, a redhaired girl came in. She was dressed in a black AC/DC shirt and jeans that were splattered with bleach and black Chuck Taylor AllStar Converses; the white vinyl was a disgusting yelllow covered with black permanent marker drawings and the laces were grisley grey. Her hair was in a messy French twist. She looked at a card.

"Is this where orientation is?" she asked.

"Yea."

"Cool," she said. She plopped into a seat next to Zack. He stared at her up and down: she was pretty hot, in a tomboyish sort of way. She popped a piece of gum in her mouth, bored.

"Dude," she said. "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing," he replied with a shrug. She said dude like she was a guy. He definately liked this girl.

"Hello," said a beautiful, Hispanic lady who was dressed in a pink sweater and had a large lily behind her right ear. "Welcome to orientation. I found the video for you to watch. While you watch the video, I'll get your forms that you can fill out. There's snacks and soda over on the table." She popped the tape into the VCR and walked out of the room.

A swelling orchestration blared from the TV. The words SUPER CLUB WELCOME NEW MEMBERS! appeared on the screen.  
"We are the fastest growing company in the United States," said a narrator. "If we were a country, we would be the 29th most powerful economy in the world. Just ahead of France."

The redhaired girl rolled her eyes. God! She HATED these kind of instructional videos.

Soon, an actor appeared on the screen. "Who are we? We're Super Club!" He flashed his Super Club card. "Where buying in bulk is your God given right."

"And you, sir, are SUPER gay!" the redhead mocked sarcastically. "And being queer is your God given right."

Zack snorted slightly. He agreed silently with her. This girl was cool.

"Hello, everyone," the actor continued to say. "I'm a recognizable actor..."

"This is stupid," she said, grabbing the remote and pressed the fast-forward button until she found a part that was interesting.

"What are you doing?" said Vince.

"Skipping the boring parts," she said, smiling.

"She's right, man," said Zack. "This video is kind of boring."

"Thank you!" she said. "Finally, someone who has a brain around here."

"As a new part of the Super Club team," the actor commenced. "We all do things the Super Club way..."

"You want to have a go?" she said, tossing Zack the remote.

"Yea," he said, smiling.

Vince rolled his eyes. They were a bunch of clowns who clearly didn't care about having a job. Slackers. Lazy-asses.

"Oh no!" said the actor. "A Super Club member has lost their child. But that's OK. When you do things the Super Club way..."

"Skip it!" she said. He tossed her the remote and she fast-forwarded the tape until he found an interesting spot.

"The most coveted prize for all Super Club team members," the actor recommenced. "Employee of the Month."

She tossed him the remote and let him have a turn.

"Welcome," said the actor. "To Super Club Family!"

Zack was about to rewind and there was static on the screen. Apparently, the tape had ended.

"Ugh!" Zack said, rolling his eyes. "What a waste of time."

"Totally agree," she said.

"Excuse me," said Vince, who apparently was fed up with their lazy-ass attitudes. "They asked us to watch this for a reason. And do not screw this up for me."

"I'm not trying to screw anything up, man," said Zack.

"Yea, take the long stick out of your ass and calm the fuck down, Sphincter Man!" the girl said, agreeing with him.

"Besides, this is only a part-time situation once I get my business off the ground and then, I'm out of here."

Vince rolled his eyes. "Your business, I'm sure."

"Hey, leave him alone! Anyone who has a dream and potential can make it in the business world," the girl said.

"Oh, really? You barely look like you graduated high school."

"FYI, I _did_ graduate from high school...and I went to business school..."

"And did you graduate?"

"Erm...well no...but, I'm studying at community college to get my AA degree." She blushed. "But, that's beside the point. At least this guy graduated from college and has plans for the future."

"It's like talking Shakespeare to dogs," Vince murmured.

"You're a cool girl," he said.

She smiled, twirling a lock of her tousled hair. "Eh, you're not too bad yourself, dude."

"I'm back," said the beautiful Hispanic lady named Lily.

"They broke the VCR while you were away," said Vince. "I tried to stop them."

"Kiss ass," the redhead coughed.

"Oh, that's OK," said Lily. "You don't have to watch the rest of that. Just fill out these forms and then I'll get your vests." She dropped her pen. "Oops! I dropped my pen!"

The two boys began to fight over the dropped pen. Zack ended up getting the top. The girl rolled her eyes. Boys sure were idiots when they a pretty girl was in the room. Thank God she wasn't like all girls.

"I got to tell you," said Vince. "That's a gorgeous carnation. It really makes your eyes pop."

"Actually that's a lily," the redhaired girl said. "Family _Plantae_, Order _Lilales_, Family _Liliaceae_, Genus _Lilium_. And it's endogenous to the Galopagos."

"Wow!" said Lily. "You sure know your plants."

"I took a botany course at college."

"Ooh! College girl! Well, my name is Lily, like the flower."

"My grandmother's name was Lily. And she just passed," Vince said.

"Aww, I'm so sorry."

The red haired girl and Zack rolled their eyes.

"You know what I do when I'm sad? I eat chocolate."

She picked up a bowl of M&Ms and poured them down her open mouth; the redhaired girl made a disgusted face. She could hear her getting fatter.

"Oh my God!" she mouthed quietly.

"You eat so much sugar you probably shit candy-canes," Zack said.

Lily laughed. "No. I just have good genes. I guess I'm blessed."

Vince laughed as well. "Well, that's an understatement. You are blessed from floor to ceiling. I got to tell you, it's really refreshing to see a modern lady like yourself indulging in the sweeter things of life."

"Well, I like to indulge in all of life's pleasures," Lily replied.

"Oh my God!" the redhaired girl said. "What an ass-kisser," she whispered to Zack.

"Yea," he agreed.

"Seriously, this dude needs a serious ass-kicking."

Zack nodded in agreement.

"Got any ideas?"

"Well, there was this kiss-ass in our college that we all couldn't stand because he made us all look like assholes. So, every time he would sit down, we'd steal his chair and he'd fall on his ass. It was hilarious."

Zack nodded. "Great idea."

He pushed the chair away with his foot. Then, Vince went to sit down and he fell on his ass and to top it off, he hit his head on the table. The redhaired girl and Zack laughed hard.

"That's funny. Really funny," said Vince. "That was a real riot."

"Did you have a nice fall?" the redhaired girl said.

"Oh, shut up!" he said, his voice cracking.

"Awww, did I make Mr. Hot-Shot sad?" she said, pouting her lip.

His face was flushed with anger and embarrassment. "Let me tell you two something," he said. "In ten years, I'm gonna be running this place. And when I am, I'll make damn sure that neither of you are working here."

"Are we supposed to be scared?" the redhaired girl said sarcastically. "Because you're not."

"Yea, and let me tell you something," said Zack. "If I'm working here in ten years, you're gonna have to put a bullet in my brain."

Vince scoffed and filled out his form. Soon, they handed in their forms and Lily looked at them, handing them their vests.

"Ruebena Redford?" said Lily.

The redhead girl clenched her jaw in embarrassment, burying her head in her hands. God! She _hated_ being called that name! God forbid her parents would name her something normal! But, NO! They had to give her a really embarrassing name. Vince sniggered slightly.

"Ruebena?" he snorted. "What a stupid name."

Zack gave him a dirty look. "Oh, shut up!"

"That would be me," she said. "And please, it's Ruby. It's really embarrassing enough for me to have to live with that name."

"Aw, I think it's a lovely name," Lily said.

"Yea, well, you didn't get teased all through school."

"Well, I'll make sure that your name tag says Ruby."

"Thank you."

Zack looked at the girl. Ruebena Redford. That name sounded so familiar. A little redhaired girl that sat next to him in second grade. The kids bursting into laughter when they heard her name. Jimmy Walters, the school bully, stealing his lunch and the little redhaired girl beating him up. She came and asked him if he was OK and offered to share half of her lunch with him. That was the day they became best friends.

"Wait, are you Ruby Redford?"

"Yea. Why?" she asked.

"Zack Bradley."

Suddenly, she recognized him. A brown haired kid who was being shoved by Jimmy Walters and she beat him up.

"Oh my GOD!" she screeched. "Zack! I didn't recognize you!"

"It's great to see you!" he said.

"Wait, you two know each other?" said Vince incredulously and annoyed.

"Of course!" Ruby said. "We've been best friends and neighbors since we were kids."

"Oh great!" Vince mouthed, rolling his eyes.

"Jesus, how long has it been?"

"Two years." He smiled as he looked at his longtime best friend. "So, what are you doing now? Did you finish at Arizona U?"

"Eh, no. I dropped out. It just wasn't for me...plus, my father passed away."

"Oh, no! I'm sorry. What happened?"

"Apparently, he had a relapse when I left for college and..." Ruby shook her head, unable to go on.

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you. So, I just couldn't go on...I didn't want to end up like Dad. So, I dropped out. However, I plan on finishing at community college and get my AA degree in business. I figure I'd like to be a manager or something. Anyway, what's going on with you?"

"Well, just finished college and I'm working on starting my own business. This is just a temporary thing."

"Cool. You think you could get me a job?"

"I'll put you first on my list."

"Thanks."

Ruby was so happy that she and her best friend were reunited.


	2. Same Shit, Different Day

Chapter 1

Same shit, different day

XXXXX

_Ten years later..._

The alarm clock screamed at 7:30 AM. Ruby slammed it to shut it up. She felt depressed. She didn't want to go to work at Super Club today. Just another day in the salt mines with her fellow coworkers. She got dressed in a pair of jeans and a Rolling Stones t-shirt with the big red lips and tongue hanging out, letting her messy auburn hair hang down like a burnt out rock star and wore no make-up. She was pretty in a tomboyish sort of way. She had brown eyes, a slightly upturned nose, and chapped lips. Her auburn hair hung at her shoulders in messy waves.

The only thing she looked forward to at work was hanging out with her longtime friend and neighbor, Zack Bradley. Ah! He was so funny. She loved it especially when he and his friends, Lon (in vision center), Iqbal (in electronics) and Russell (in grocery) made fun of Vince Downey, the head cashier and constant employee of the month. Today, Zack drew a funny face on Vince's portrait as he was pictured in Employee of the Month, depicting horns, a Hitler mustache, a missing tooth and a word bubble that said I LOVE ANAL! She couldn't help but laugh. She even added a huge S like Superman's emblem on Vince's chest and wrote on the other side SPHINCHTER MAN, just to add more laughs.

As the day went on, she and Zack went around, putting boxes at registers. She and Zack were box handlers. She was bored that she would just walk around the store, look at DVDs that had come out, even just hide out in the lounge, which was a sad little empty corner in an aisle on a shelf among the KitchenAid Blenders which they made themselves. She would chat with Zack about stupid stuff about work, laughing and having lunch. Ruby enjoyed hanging out with her friends, yet every time she saw Zack, her heart rate sped up and her cheeks flushed. She secretly had feelings for Zack, yet refused to show them since he was her best friend. It was too embarrassing.

Ruby and Zack passed by the locker room to see if Vince had stopped in to see his newly defaced picture.

"DAMMIT!" he said. "Not this month, Zack and Ruby. Not this month."

Closing time was approaching and she and the other low life employees were in the back room, trading defective items. That's when the radio went on. It was that awful Vince Downey. Ruby wanted to puke when she heard his voice. He was such an anal dumb ass. She called him names like 'OCD', ', 'dumb ass' and her personal favorite: 'Sphincter Man'.

"This is cashier number one," he said. "Tell Zack and Ruby they've messed with the bull one too many times. The bull's in the china shop. I'm the bull. They're the china shop."

They all just giggled.

"Jorge's uncle had a…" he began, then stopped. Russell did a bull impression and they all laughed.

"Hey, man," said Russell. "Looks like you guys are in trouble."

"Let's just focus here, OK, Russell?" said Zack. "Let's look at what we got here. My dented deviled hand for your crushed bread and dented peanut butter and jelly jars."

"Wait a minute. PB and J, that's like gold man."

"Deviled ham is almost a spiritual meal."

Everyone looked at him.

"OK. Fine. You're on."

"Let's go."

"Let's go then."

They counted to three and did rock-paper-scissors. Zack was paper. Russell was rock.

"Ha! Paper covers rock! All me!"

"Damn!"

"Cameron, bag my stuff for me."

"Hey! That's not part of the deal, guy."

Zack turned his tail and ran. Then he threw him a blueberry muffin that Semi, the security guard. He sniffed it.

"This smells like ass."

XXXX

"Attention, Super Club shoppers. We're closing in five minutes. If you could please finish in five minutes, that would be great." The intercom announced.

Finally. Ruby sighed. She would be glad to get her ass home and in bed. She was tired. Too tired. She and Zack went towards the front of the store, knowing that a meeting would be taking place. They were stopped by Vince.

"There you two are," he said.

"You're in deep, homes," said Jorge. "He did not do ahn-al."

"That's too bad for you, Jorge," said Zack.

Ruby sniggered slightly.

"Do you know what this is?" Vince asked, holding up a fat black Sharpie ™ fine point marker.

"Yes, that is a 10-times-larger-than-life replica of your penis," Zack replied.

Ruby laughed.

"Nice burn, Zack," she said.

"Oh, that's hilarious," Vince said sarcastically.

"I saw your new face, by the way, Sphincter Man," she said. "Nice. By the way, your plastic surgeon called. He said you're due for an emergency face job."

Zack sniggered.

Vince laughed sarcastically. "Very funny, Roo-bee," he said, sarcastically. "By the way, nice hair. Tell me, did you stick your tongue in a toaster this morning or did a cow chew on it for breakfast?"

Ruby just laughed. "Tell me, Sphincter Man, if I stuck a lump of coal up your ass, would you shit a diamond?"

Zack laughed and high-fived her; it was so funny, even Jorge laughed slightly. Vince gave him a venomous look and he shut up right away.

"Super burn!" they said together.

"Oh, that's hilarious, Ruby," he said. "I realize that neither of you care about your job, but I do."

"And we both want to thank you for caring about our jobs, really," said Zack.

"My job, jerk-offs," he said. "You know, it's funny, for the past 10 years, I've been climbing the Super Club food chain, as planned. But you two, you haven't moved at all."

They shook their heads, smirking.

"I'm almost at the top," said Vince. "It goes manager, section manager, floor manager, head cashier, cashier, stocker, clean-up crew, night clean-up crew, and lastly box boy. That's what you two are."

"Don't forget box girl," Ruby said, smirking. "Sexism is forbidden in the workplace, Vince. We wouldn't want to get fired for that now, would we?"

"Oh, SHUT UP, you fucking feminist! As I was saying, that's why neither of you can go in the cashier's lounge. You know, after all this time, you'd think you'd understand that you two are the lowest of the low."

"Yea, lowest of the low, man," said Jorge.

"Aren't you a box boy, too, Jorge?" Zack said.

"Oh yea, but he's my box boy," said Vince.

"Yea. I'm his box boy," Jorge repeated.

"Your love for him concerns and confuses me," Zack said.

"Sí, mi amigo," Ruby said, nodding in agreement.

"You listen to me, jerk-offs and you listen well,"

"Chill, boss," said Jorge. "It's Glenn."

Glenn Gary approached the four of the feuding employees. They turned towards Glenn Gary, the store manager who was flanked by the assistant manager, Dirk. It was hard to tell who was dorkier: Glenn Gary was always wore starched shirts and a tie with glasses. Dirk always wore a dorky sweater vest with a tie and shirt that matched the colors of his sweater vest.

"Mr. Gary," said Vince.

"Mr. Gary," said Jorge.

"Hey, what's happening, boss-man?" said Zack.

"Gentlemen…"

"And ladies," Ruby corrected him, smiling.

"Yes, of course, Ruby. I'm sorry. And lady. Meeting in 60 seconds and I've got big news," said Glenn Gary, the store manager. He turned away toward the front of the store.

"Thanks for being prompt," said Dirk, following Glenn Gary.

The employees of Super Club gathered at the front of the store. God! There was one thing Ruby hated was a meeting at the end of the day. Same old bullshit. She sighed, rolling her eyes in boredom, leaning against the boxes with her friends.

"Well, we got the call from Corporate and it's official," began Glenn. "Today Vince broke the check-stand speed record and has been officially recognized as the fastest in the southwest region. Needless to say, Vince. You earned this one."

Great! Another fucking gold star for Vince for being the fastest cashier in the southwest region! Whoowee! Who gives a damn?

Turning to Dirk, "Dirk, go ahead. Put the star up. Congratulations to Vince for being employee of the month for 17 times in a row."

Everyone had scattered, unenthusiastic clapping. Ruby and her friends just rolled their eyes.

"As most of you know, if Vince gets to number 18, he'll go into the hall of fame and put on the fast track for management and he'll win a brand-new 2005 Chevy Malibu!"

Wonderful! Ruby thought in a sarcastic tone.

They clapped again.

"I realize that Vince has won the last 17 in a row, but hey, it's anybody's game." Yea, what else was new? He's won 17 times? Give it a break. "I'd like to encourage everyone to compete. A little extra effort could earn you a star. It really could. So grab a broom, help a lost customer, pick up a spill. Don't be afraid to go above and beyond."

"I welcome all challengers," said Vince.

"'I welcome all challengers,'" mocked Russell.

"Sphincter Man," Ruby sing-songed, quietly, mockingly imitating Superman flying. They laughed quietly.

"Well, nobody has ever been to the magic 18 before, so this is really a big deal people. The store will close early on the 30th for a special banquet award show."

Everyone cheered.

"It will be semi-formal and mandatory," said Dirk. "Which means church clothes, please, everyone."

Everyone groaned. If there was one thing Ruby hated was getting dressed up and putting on make-up. She liked that rolled out of bed look with a rock band t-shirt on and jeans.

"It'll be fun to dress up," said Glenn, trying to be enthusiastic. "Corporate will be there and we need everybody to be at your very best behavior."

There was a loud fart. They five Loser Gang giggled in the back. Glenn looked at Dirk. "Sorry, sir," he said, quietly.

"Why'd you do that?" he whispered, annoyed that he ruined the meeting. "Next, we'll be having a new cashier joining the team tomorrow. Her name is…" he furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember her name.

"Amy Renfroe," interjected Dirk.

"Amy…" his words trailed off. He looked annoyed since that was the second time he ruined the meeting and interrupted him. "So please make her feel welcome."

Everyone just stared blankly.

"Yea. Let's give her a warm Super Club welcome. Super Club!"

"Super Club!" joined Vince.

Everyone clapped again.

"Oh, and lastly, we also have a new floor manager that will be joining us. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Ruby Redford."

Everyone turned and stared at Ruby Redford, who was surprised! My God! How could've she forgotten that she had filled out an application for the manager position? Ruby's face flushed beet red, embarrassed. Vince especially was shocked and glared at Ruby. How could she?! A box girl promoted to manager! That was unfair! All those years of working at Super Club and they hired a box girl to be manager!

"Wait a minute!" interjected Vince. "How can this be? How can a lowly box girl become a manager in one day? That is totally unfair! It takes years of experience to move up the corporate ladder!"

"Vince, this is nobody's business about how Ruby got the promotion. She will be glad to explain later once I meet with her." Then, he resumed with the closing of the meeting. "All right everyone, be safe out there." Glenn closed. He always closed the meeting like that. "And Ruby, come to the office before you leave."

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"Don't forget to sign up for the softball game against Maxi-Mart, 'cause we need players," said Dirk.

"How could you do that?!" whispered Glenn to Dirk, annoyed that he ruined the meeting with his inappropriate behavior.

She followed Glenn and Dirk into the manager's office.

"Sit down, please," said Glenn.

She sat down.

"So, why?"

"Miss Redford," said Glenn. "We also were notified by your school that you earned your AA in business. Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir. I forgot to mention it when I applied for the manager position. I didn't think it would happen just overnight. But, I don't understand why you would give me a job without interviewing me."

"Well, not only did your AA give you points, Dirk and I have been observing you and we've noticed you have leadership with the other box people and you are a hard working employee, so we felt that you deserve this position."

"What about Vince Downey? He's exceptional. He's moving up the corporate ladder and has more experience in leadership than I."

"Vince is exceptional, but a manager with a degree looks good for the store. Plus, if you're ever offered an internship, you will get a good reference from us." Glenn paused.

"So, what do you say, are you in?" asked Dirk.

Ruby smiled as if she had won a gold medal in the Olympics. She, a superior over Vince Downey. How sweet was that!

"Yes. I'm in."

"Ruby Redford, welcome to management," said Glenn.

Glenn shook hands with her.

"Welcome to the team," said Dirk.

"Thank you, sir."

"Zack!" she yelled, running like a chicken without its head on. "Zack!"

"Hey, Ruby Tuesday!" he said, smiling. She loved it when he called her that. It was her favorite song by the Rolling Stones. "What's going on?"

"Say hello to the new floor manager of Super Club!"

He hugged her. The feel of those muscles beneath that shirt and the smell of him (cardboard, sweat, and male scent) made her blush and her heart skip a few beats. She liked it whenever she got big bear hugs from him and called her Ruby Tuesday. She imagined herself kissing him as he hugged her.

"We should celebrate," he said. "I know. Steaksmith. The five of us to celebrate your new promotion."

Ruby smiled. She was hoping to have alone time with her best friend to tell him how she felt about him: she pictured them dressed nicely and drinking champagne and talking. She blushed at the moment she thought of Zack touching her hand and pressing his lips to the back of it; her pulse fluttering, a fever rushing over her, and her heart pounding.

"Rube?" said Zack's voice in the distance. "Rube?"

"Huh?" she said, dumbly.

"Are you OK? You looked wasted for a second there."

"Oh, no. I'm fine." She said with a smile, blushing, wanting to drown in the niceness of Zack Bradley surrounding her: his muscles, his scent, and his scratchy face and the feel of his calloused hands from working with boxes. That brown hair all mussed up like he rolled out of bed and his unshaven face and in army pants and heelie sneakers. All of that made her feel gooey inside and she wanted to melt like butter at his feet.

The Loser Gang: Zack, Ruby, Russell, Lon, and Iqbal were at Steaksmith. She sat next to him, listening to all the gabbing from the guys. She was the only girl in the group.

"I'd like to propose a toast," said Zack, raising his glass of bubbly.

The five of them stood up.

"A toast to a promotion. To Ruby Redford."

"To you Ruby," they all said.

Ruby smiled. "Thanks, guys. You are the best of friends I've had at Super Club. And I'd like to propose a toast to friends forever."

"Friends forever."

The Loser Gang raised their glasses and clinked them together and gulped down the bubbly. Ruby stared at Zack, longing to bare her soul to him. She drank her bubbly, remembering all those memories with Zack when she moved in next door when they were kids and the high school years. She remembered when they went to the prom (just as friends of course), but in reality, she wanted to be more than that; she wanted to be his date, maybe even his girlfriend…hell, she wanted to lose her virginity to him. Yet, here she was, 26, way past her expiration date, working at Super Club, and yet, still a virgin! A 26-year-old virgin! My god! She should've had it done and over with by Prom night! But 26! If anyone found out that Ruby Redford was still a 26-year-old virgin, she would die. She didn't think that Zack knew about that. Sure, she had dated a couple of guys, but she never got any further. She didn't want anybody but Zack.

She sighed, knowing that Zack would always be unreachable like the fox and the grapes in the tree.


	3. New Day as Manager

Chapter 2

A New Day as Manager

The alarm clock blared at 7:00 AM. Ruby rubbed her eyes and slammed the buzzer off on the top. She forced herself out of bed to get to Super Club. Today was a new day as floor manager of Super Club. She jumped in the shower to wash herself. All on her mind was Zack. She had to tell him that she had feelings for him. But how? Perhaps she could make it a special occasion like a dinner, just the two of them and she could tell him while they drank red wine, dressed nicely. Perhaps Zack could see Ruby dressed all girly and pretty. The last time Zack had seen Ruby in girly clothes was the prom.

Ruby and Zack both were box handlers, however, she earned her associates in business. That explained why she got the manager position. She tried out for the broker internship, but it didn't work out for her. Seven days a week dealing with numbers, shouting, stock market, no thank you. She couldn't pay her student loans, so she had to take up a full time job.

After her shower, she shaved her legs and rubbed lotion on them so they looked sleek. She wanted Zack to notice them. She shaved her underarms and spritzed deodorant on the newly shaved spots. She combed out her red auburn hair and blow dried it. She put on a special outfit: green button up shirt (she knew that was Zack's favorite color), a khaki skirt that came to her knees that would show off her clean shaven legs and loafers. She put on eye makeup and put her hair up in a French twist with a hair clip. Last but not least, she spritzed on her perfume: Japanese cherry blossom. It smelled sweet, flowery and very feminine. She prayed that Zack would sniff the air when she approached and bury his face in her neck and smell it, reminiscing the scent while she enjoyed the scratchy feel of his scruff on his face and smell him…

She looked at her watch and noticed that it was time to get to work. She rubbed gardenia lotion on her hands so they would be nice and smooth and smell good.

She pulled up to Super Club. She saw most of the employees' cars there, getting ready to open up. She took a deep breath, inhaling the morning dew, trembling excitedly about her new day as the floor manager. She walked towards the store, her head held high and full of confidence and feeling so feminine. The minute the automatic doors opened, heeding to her steps, all eyes in the store turned to her and whispers spread like wild fire when they saw this new and improved Ruby. Normally, she would come in: no makeup, hair unbrushed or messy, and dressed sloppy. And now that this newly transformed Ruby stepped in the door, nobody recognized her.

"Hello, Ruby," said Glenn, the store manager. "You look fabulous for your first day as floor manager."

"Thank you, Mr. Gary." Ruby blushed, swearing that her face turned the same color as her hair.

Dirk was standing next to him, dressed in his usual shirt and preppy sweater. He stared in awe at her.

"You look really good, Miss Redford," he said. "You already look like a manager."

"Thank you, sir," she replied, smiling.

"Ready to work?"

"Yes."

She saw Zack skating up the aisles in his heelies and stopped dead when he saw the newly transformed Ruby. He skated up to her and stared at her up and down. Words had failed him when he saw his best friend.

"Hello," he said. "Do I know you?"

Ruby only smiled, blushing.

"You look…" words had failed him again. "Are you Ruby Redford? The Ruby Redford I know doesn't dress or smell this nice."

Ruby had to laugh.

"Nope, it's me, silly."

"Well, you look really amazing, Ruby Tuesday. Go knock 'em dead on your first day…boss."

"Zack, just because I'm a manager doesn't change the fact that I'm not going to stop hanging out with you guys."

"Of course. You're always welcome to the clubhouse, Ruby Tuesday."

"Good. I'll come by on lunch break and give you a report on the first day."

"Sweet. See you then."

Ruby stood at the podium, counting money, responding to any flashing light, and walking up and down the aisles, checking on the other associates.

"Sweet mama," said a voice behind her. She recognized that voice of course. Vince Downey, head cashier. "What a sweet ass! I'd like to bite that thing and chew on it."

She turned around like a military man, her eyes piercing Vince with acidic disgust.

"Oh, it's you," he said, flatly. "I didn't recognize you without your butch clothes."

"Do NOT ever talk about my body parts EVER again," she said in a strict tone. "Or I will have you fired on grounds of sexual harassment, Vincent. Is that clear?"

He got it immediately and that disgusting smirk left his face. "Sorry…boss."

"I'm glad to accept your apology, Vincent," she replied, coldly.

He went back to work and didn't bother her again. A new cashier was coming in today: Name was Amy Renfroe who transferred from another store. According to her file, she usually dated those nominated employee of the month. Hmm, that was interesting.

As the day went by, she really missed hanging out with the guys, especially Zack. Being a floor manager was not what she thought it would be: sure it was better pay and more respect, but she would give up the position to be back as box girl just to be with Zack. She sighed. All she did was collect money when the drawers were full, count the money, took attendance, and walked up and down the registers to make sure the cashiers did their jobs.

Soon, a blonde, bosomy young girl walked into the store. All eyes stared on her. She held up a piece of paper, looking around the store. An old man stopped her and asked her for her club card.

"Actually, I work here," she replied.

Ruby shook her head. Good old Jerry, just doing his job. She walked towards the girl so she could introduce herself as the manager. Then, she stopped cold in her tracks when she saw Zack stop and talk to her. The sting of jealousy coursed through her body, but she breathed and tried to relax. She kept telling herself that they were just friends, suppressing that bitter feeling in her throat after dry-swallowing a pill.

Thankfully, Vince came in to talk to Amy. Even though the guy was a sleaze ball, she was grateful that he got the blonde's attention away from Zack. She walked up, her loafers clacking.

"Now that I'm on my break, I could show you around the store, starting with the break room," said Vince.

"Actually," said Ruby. "I'll be the one doing that since I happen to be the boss."

Vince bit his lip in annoyance that Ruby had ruined his moment to hang out with the girl.

"Of course you are, Miss Redford," he replied. "But, may I…have your permission to show her around?"

Ruby smiled, a bit annoyed that Vince was using manners, especially in front of a new cashier.

"Of course you may," she replied with acid in her voice.

"Are you Ruby Redford?" asked the blonde.

"Yes. I'm the new floor manager. If you have any questions, you may ask me."

"I'm Amy Renfroe. I was supposed to be meeting with you today, Miss Redford."

"Please. Call me Ruby."

Amy smiled. "Sorry."

"Not a problem."

She watched as Vince and Amy walked away.

"Lubes?" said Russell in the radio.

"Yea?"

"Get the 411 on Amy Renfroe, the new cashier."

"I'm on it."

She stopped at the personnel office and flashed her manager badge to Lily, the personnel manager. She nodded and handed her Amy's personal file. She gave her the two Butterfingers that Russell broke in half.

"Thank you, Lily," she said. "I'll make sure you get a raise by the end of the day."

She smiled silently. "Thank you, Miss Redford."

Lunch was here. She clocked out and went to join her friends in the club house. Zach, Iqbal, Lon, and Russell were all at the lift, waiting for Ruby to show up. She came with a big smile upon her face. As they went up to the lounge, they excitedly asked her about her first day as a floor manager and she answered their questions with a smile.

"Yet," she replied. "I really gotta be honest. I miss hanging out with you guys."

"Don't worry, we're not going anywhere, Rubes," said Lon. "We'll always be here."

"I know. I just never knew that it would be so soon. And it's not what I expected it to be."

She sighed.

"Oh yea. I scolded Vince today."

"You did?" they all said, excited.

"What did he do?" asked Iqbal.

"He was talking about my ass. So, I told him I would fire him for sexual harassment."

They all laughed.

"That's right," said Russell. "Nobody's allowed to talk about your ass."

"Except us," said Lon.

"Well, you're my friends. I don't care if you talk about my ass."

"You always hid your ass, Ruby Tuesday," said Zack. "You got to admit you have a really hot ass. Why'd you hide it all those years?"

"Dunno." Ruby blushed after hearing Zack talk about her ass.

"Can you fire him? Vince, that is?"

"Sure. If he doesn't keep that mouth of his in check, I'll fire his ass faster than you can say Bob's your uncle. God! I love being a boss. I can fire people!"

They all laughed.

"So, what do you know about this Amy?" asked Zack.

"Let me see, boss lady," Russell said, yanking it out of her hands.

"Dammit, Russell!" she shrieked. "If that file is damaged or lost, I'll be out of a job! Give that back!" She went to grab it, but he kept jerking it back. "Dude, I'm not afraid to kick your ass…even in a skirt."

"I love a girl who fights," Russell says. "Makes me horny."

"Russell, give me that file or you're fired!"

His smile dropped and he handed it back to her, defeated. Nobody could say no if the word 'you're fired' was mentioned.

"Well," she said, opening the manila folder. She looked around outside to make sure nobody was listening. "OK, what I'm about to tell you is extremely confidential and you can't tell anyone I showed you the file or said anything," Ruby said abruptly. "I could lose my job for talking about an employee."

"We won't tell," said Lon. "You're our friend. And friends don't tell."

"So, I looked through Amy's personal file and apparently, she requested the transfer from the previous store due to romantic issues."

"What kind of issues?" Zack said, leaning in, interested.

"I believe she has a thing for employee of the month."

"No shit," said Zack. "I don't believe it."

"That's right," said Russell. "That picture goes up on the wall, she slides into the sack like a singed koala looking for an all-night burn center."

"Russell, what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Ruby said with a tone of confusion and disgust.

Still the sting of hurt and jealous stabbed Ruby in the heart when Zack showed interest in Amy. And it hurt so much that it made her sick to her stomach. She bit her lip to keep her feelings restrained from pouring out like overflowing water in a dam that was ready to burst if it wasn't released.

"I refuse to believe that Amy has a thing for employee of the month," said Zack. "I know this we had a moment."

There was the sound of giggling. Lon and Russell leaned towards the monitor of the aisle where their club house was.

"Apparently," said Lon. "Your girl's having another moment."

They saw Vince walking with Amy and they were talking.

"Let's go. Let's go."

The four losers stuck their heads out of the entrance to their lounge and watched the two cashiers.

"Check it out, guy. He's the alpha male of the store. Chicks always go for the alpha male. Their like lions kings of the desert."

"Russell, lions are from the savannah," Ruby said, rolling her eyes.

Russell rolled his eyes; he hated it when Ruby had to correct him. Sure, she went to college and got her degree.

"Whatever, college girl." He turned back to Zack. "And you, you're just a tiny little field mouse dangling in the teeth of the lion while he's banging your chick." He paused a moment and shook his head. "No, wait a minute, box boy, you're like the little hairy nut sack on the little hairy field mouse, swinging back and forth while he's banging your chick, going back…"

Ruby held back a disgusted laugh while Lon made a disgusted face and Zack made an annoyed look and reached for his walkie talkie.

"Russell," he said.

Russell picked up his walkie and answered, "Yea?"

"Your metaphors are magical, but shut the hell up please."

"Roger." He paused. "Just going back and forth, hairy Kalahari style, in and out with his big…Discovery Channel." There was squeaking and static from the walkie talkie.

Lunch break was over. The guys were about to go down on the scissor lift, but Ruby wanted to talk to someone about how she felt. She paged Iqbal, saying she wanted to talk to him in private. He had a wife and kids. He probably could help her. She didn't really like having girlfriends; guys were much more fun to hang out with than women. Women bitched about their problems and were full of drama. Yet, she was a woman, but a tomboyish woman.

"You coming, Rubes?" asked Russell.

"I'll be along in a few minutes. I need to talk to Iqbal in private."

"Well, I got to get back to work," said Zack.

"OK. See you after shift."

The scissor lift descended from the lounge and she stood at the top of the clubhouse, waiting for the Iqbal to get on the scissor lift while Lon, Russell, and Zack got off. Once inside the clubhouse, she motioned to Russell and Lon to get lost. They descended.

"What is it, Ruby?" he said.

"I need to talk to you. It's about something personal." She sighed. "Have you ever had feelings for someone, but you're afraid to ask them?"

"What's this about?"

"You have to swear not to tell ANYBODY!" she said, a bit embarrassed. "You swear to Shiva and Vishnu that you won't tell anybody?" Yup, she studied religion and knew all about Hinduism.

"Of course."

"OK. I have feelings for this guy, but he's my best friend. I'm afraid that if I ask him to date me, I'll lose my best friend."

"It's Zack, isn't it?"

"NO!" she shouted, embarrassed.

"Come on. You've had the hots for him for years. I've seen how you look at him every day, waiting for him to make the move."

"So, what do I do?"

"Ask him out to dinner and then tell him how you feel over dinner."

"But…how do you ask your best friend out on a date?"

"What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid to lose my best friend."

"Just do it. Quit being a shrinking violet, Rubes. Ask the man out."

"Alright!"

She was about to signal the scissor lift up to let her and Iqbal down when she saw Russell and Lon standing just a few feet below them.

"Did you hear anything?" Ruby said, angrily, red in the face.

"Is she mad?" asked Lon.

"Yea," said Russell. "Got the hots for Zack Attack, don't you?" he said, teasingly.

"Shut up!" she yelled, her voice cracking. It echoed all over the store.

"Ruby and Zack sitting in a tree…" Russell sang.

"Russell, I swear to God that I will punch you in the nut sack if you sing that song! And if either of you tell Zack about how I feel, I will fire your asses!"

Lon and Russell looked at each other, scared. Yup, Ruby was a manager. She could fire their asses if she wanted.

"Alright! We won't tell. Geesh. Calm down," said Russell.

"Besides, you should know that your prince charming is going to be employee of the month," Lon added.

"No shit. It's because of Amy, isn't it? Aw, great! The moment where I have the hots for my best friend, he falls in love with another. This is great."

"Well, how are you going to break the news to him?"

"I don't know. I thought of making reservations at a nice restaurant and telling him over dinner."

"Well, what the hell are you waiting for, Lubes?" Russell said. (Russell always called her that because her name rhymed with the shortened version of lubricant and, God forbid there was not a day that didn't go by where he didn't have anything to talk about but sex. Not that she minded. It was kind of funny.) "You've been a nun all your life. Ask the guy out. Quit being a shrinking violet."

"That's what I said to her," said Iqbal.

"You guys are right," Ruby said. "I'm gonna stop being a shrinking violet. I'm going to be a rose in full bloom."

They nodded. "Go for it, Rubes!"

She would get those grapes up in the tree! She would! She promised herself that she would and taste the sweetness. And that sweetness would be Zack.


	4. Nomination and Competition

Chapter 3

Nomination & Competition

She came into work, feeling as confident and happy as ever, even though she had to do manager responsibilities. She was so bored that she kept playing the image of her and Zack's date over and over in her mind. She was so in love. Vince made another pass at her, but she didn't even hear him. She decided that if she was going to win Zack, she would help him win employee of the month. She went to find Dirk and Glenn in the manager's office.

"Hey," she said, poking her head in.

"Hello, Ruby," said Dirk and Glenn.

"May I speak to you?"

"Sure. Come on in," said Dirk. "You're one of us now."

"Well, I know I've only been manager for a day, but I'd like to make a suggestion…well, more of a nomination."

"Oh?" asked Glenn.

"Well, Mr. Gary, I would like to nominate Zack Bradley as employee of the month."

They looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. "Why?" asked Dirk. "What's wrong with Vince Downey?"

"Well, Vince Downey is an exceptional employee: hard working, fast, and neat. But, I feel that he's been employee of the month for too long. I think it's time to nominate someone else. I find Zack to be exceptional: he is unique, friendly, helpful, and…" some words failed her. Sure, he was an underachiever, but this was no time to be honest. "And responsible." She lied.

"I see. Is this because you two are friends?" asked Glenn.

"Not just that. But is there anything I can do to motivate him?"

"Well, you could interview him and ask what he would make him an exceptional candidate for employee of the month."

"Very well."

"But, in the meantime, we will be doing the evaluation."

"Very well."

Ruby used her walkie talkie and called for Zack to meet him in their lounge.

"I'm coming," he said.

He arrived at the lounge with his apron on and his name badge on. He was surprised to see Ruby, his manager, sitting there with a clipboard.

"Mr. Bradley, have a seat," she said in a professional manner.

"Oh, all of a sudden, you're being a big shot professional now, Miss Redford?" he said, jokingly.

She smiled, holding back a laugh.

"Just doing my job."

"So, what did I do now? Did I get any complaints?"

"No. I would like to ask you some questions about why you think you should be named employee of the month."

"Well, I think I deserve to be employee because…" he said, and then began to think.

Ruby held up her clipboard to chin, staring at Zack in the eye and waiting for an answer. While he was thinking, she decided to up the ante: she unbuttoned a button on her blouse with any hope that he would notice.

"Well…" he began. She lowered the clipboard to take notes. "I think because I deserve it because I…" he saw her blouse was unbuttoned. Here he was, alone, with his gorgeous best friend and boss, staring at the curves of her breasts. "I'm resboobsible. I mean, responsible, honest, and hardworking."

She smiled and wrote notes. She crossed her legs and saw that Zack was staring at her long, sleek legs. It was like Basic Instinct: dammit! If only she hadn't worn underwear, maybe Zack would see. She blushed.

"Umm…what else? I have been working at Super Club for a while and I feel that I am qu…" he stared at her legs. God! They were so smooth and long. "Qualegified. Sorry. Qualified." She could see that his cheeks were red. Was Ruby trying to seduce him? He smiled. Sure, Ruby was a hot chick, but she was his friend. After all these years of being friends, she was seducing him now. Hmmm…maybe she was shy about asking her friend to be friendlier. Still, it was hot! He liked having a hot best friend, especially when his friend was his boss. It was the perfect fantasy: lower class employee being seduced by his boss.

"What are you willing to do in order to be nominated employee of the month?" she asked.

"Um…I am willing to be on time, helping customers who are lost, cleaning up a spill, and…" he kept staring at her breasts, praying she would unbutton another. Oh! He felt himself getting hard! Uh oh! He crossed his legs uncomfortably.

"And bringing boxes to registers and doing carry outs."

Ruby returned to her clipboard and wrote notes.

"Hmm. And why would you like to be employee of the month?" she stared hard and long.

"Um…well, I'm not sure, but I would like to do it for…" his first answer was to win Amy's heart and maybe bring Vince down a couple of notches, but he had no choice but to lie. "For self-respect."

She only smile. "And to bring Vince Downey down a couple of notches, right?"

He felt his heart leaped, but was smiling. "Yea. Absolutely. Vince Downey has been employee of the month for too long. It's time for someone else to have turn."

She smiled. "I absolutely agree." She paused for a minute to write down her notes. "You are aware of what you have to do in order to win employee of the month. First off, you have to be on time. You can't be late, ever at all."

"Easy," said Zack.

"Secondly, you can't get any complaints."

"Fine."

"And you have to know your job description and go above and beyond your duties."

"OK."

Then, the guys walked in. She quickly buttoned up her blouse.

"What's going on?" asked Lon.

"Having a little private get-together, are we?" said Russell. "If you wanted to be alone, all you had to do was put a 'do not disturb' sign up."

"Shut up, Russ!" said Ruby, rolling her eyes. "We were just doing an interview as of why he would want to be employee of the month, that's all, you dumb ass."

"Manager Redford," said manager Dirk.

"Yes?" she answered.

"We need you on the floor. Are you done with the interview with Zack Bradley?"

"Yes. I'm on my way." She turned to the guys. "Got to go back to work. I'll see you guys later."

Ruby was already in the store, getting ready to open up. She made sure all the registers were clean and working. She saw Zack walk in.

"Hey! Good morning, Super Club people! Zack Bradley punching in on the bright. Extra effort. Doing it the Super Club way by getting here nice and early. And I'm punching my very own on-time indicator."

"Well, look who's on time today," said Ruby.

"Good morning, boss," he said, smiling. She wrote notes on her clipboard.

"Holy crap!" said Iqbal. "You're really serious about this?"

"I told you I can do this. I can do this."

Ruby watched as Zack put boxes at each register and she marked it down in her notes so she could show Dirk and Glenn. Since she was manager, she had authority with head cashiers, cashiers and box handlers. She smiled to see that he was putting in some effort in his job. He was really serious about this, but in her heart she knew why he was doing it: to win Amy's heart. She sighed, sad. Then, there was a burst of cheering coming from check stand number 1: Vince Downey being his usual show-off, by showing his customers how fast he could ring up stuff. She rolled her eyes with annoyance.

"Five minutes or I'm buying!" he said. "Like I said five minutes or I'm buying."

The ladies were counting down "Ten, nine…"

A big bag of Pedigree dog food had a torn UPC number. He took his hand held scanner and aimed it for a pallet of Pedigree dog food on the shelf.

"Three, two, one."

BEEP. Dog Food 17.99. There was a roar of cheers. Ruby was annoyed that he had to show off like that. She waited until he rang up the total. Funny. She thought she saw something…like something fly through the air behind him…was it an illusion? Mm…maybe. She shrugged it off.

"See, you can't beat a guy like that," said Russell.

"Yes, I can."

"Ready to do this?" said Zack.

"Yea." He took his walkie. "Manager Redford?"

"Yes?" said Ruby's voice.

"Anything you can do to pitch in with this?"

"Clean up would probably be a good idea. You do the math."

"On it." There was a pause. "Eagle Eye, this is Brown Trouser. We are go. How?"

"Eagle…this is Brown…Brown Eye. It's a go."

"Clean-up on aisle 313," said Iqbal.

Russell handed him a mop and he headed towards the clean up. Then, Vince came out with a mop.

"You gotta be kidding me!" said Zack, angrily. He took off running towards Aisle 313.

There was a race to the mess.

"Not today!" said Vince.

"Oh yea! It's today Vince."

"No way, Zack!"

"I got it!"

They ran down the aisle when suddenly there was a loud clunk and Zack felt himself fall flat on his back. He ran into a pallet that was on a forklift. He moaned with pain, rubbing his head. Vince stood there, mopping up the mess on the floor, smiling victoriously.

"Manager Redford?" said Glenn's voice on the walkie talkie.

"Yes?"

"We got an accident to report. Zack Bradley hit his head on the pallet."

"I'm on it."

She ran down the aisle and knelt down to where the fallen Zack was. There was a huge purple contusion on the side of his forehead.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked, holding up three.

"Six," he replied.

"Can you stand?"

"Yea." She grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "Ice would be nice though."

"Let's go to security. I'll get the ice and the accident report log."

He followed her to security. Semi was in the room once they got there.

"Semi," she said. "Keep an eye on him until I get back with the ice and accident report."

"Yes, Miss Ruby," he said.

She was gone only a few minutes and came back, holding an ACCIDENT REPORT folder in her hand, along with an ice pack.

"Thank you, Semi," she said. "I'll take it from there."

He nodded.

"So, are you feeling dizzy? Light headed? Nauseous? Splitting headache? Disorientated? Difficulty focusing and with balance, blurred or double vision?"

He replied with all nos. She photographed his injury and placed it in the accident report.

"Here's some ice," she said. She made an impish smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. A little bit in pain."

"Shall I kiss it and make it better?"

Zack blushed and smiled. "Oh? Well, Nurse Ruby, are you here to heal my wounds?"

She smiled. "Why, yes I am, Mr. Bradley. I'm here to give you some tender, loving care. You still haven't answered my question: shall I kiss it and make it better?"

"Sure."

She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. There was a nice warmth when her lips touched his forehead.

"Feel better?" she said; her nose almost brushed against his.

"Yea," he whispered. "That was actually really nice."

They looked at each other in the eyes. There was a glimmer of chemistry slowly starting up…Semi came in and smiled.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing!" Ruby blushed. "I was just examining Zack's wound. It's part of the accident report." She dropped her head down and walked away. "Excuse me."

"You know, Zack," said Semi. "I think Miss Ruby really likes you."

"Yea." He smiled. "Who knew?"

Soon, Semi got a message from the manager.

"Let me guess," said Zack. "Vince."

"I'm not supposed to say." Semi opened the tube and read it, then nodded. He also opened the Comments and Suggestions box. It read: The Shitter is clogged! He dropped the comment back in the box and went to the safe. Zack leaned in to see what he was getting.

"Don't look!" said Semi.

Zack nodded.

Semi opened the safe and took out a gold star and shut it behind him. "Pretty," he commented.

Zack nodded again, his ego dented by Vince's victory for the spill clean-up incident. He followed Semi into the employee meeting room and watched Semi place a gold star next to Vince Downey's name on the Employee of the Month chart. He sighed as he felt his dignity crush inside him.

"Looks like it's going to be harder than you thought," said Iqbal.

"Not to worry. I've got 29 more days to leave a mark."

"Looks like you already have," said Russell.

"Hey, don't forget. Party at my house tonight," said Iqbal.

"Ain't no party like an Iqbal party," said Lon.

"Word." They knocked fists together.

Zack ran towards Amy when he saw her walk down. He talked for a few minutes, probably inviting her to the party at Iqbal's. Of course, she had dinner plans with Vince (thank god!). If Amy was in the room with Zack, it would just kill her.

Ruby sat at Iqbal's house with the Loser Gang. Today was a party for one of his kids.

"Jesus Christ! Who the hell are we? Chuckie Cheese-stian?" said Russell over the noise. "Like, how many kids do you have, eight balls?"

"Just 22," he replied, with a shrug.

"So, who's birthday is it anyway?" asked Ruby.

"Whoever blows the candles out first, they get the presents."

"Hey, Zack. I hear that the employee of the month thing isn't really working out for you, is it?" said Lon, mockingly.

They all snarffed their laughs. Zack pulled a popper into Lon's face. He screamed like a girl.

"What the fuck?" he yelled.

The kids all laughed when they heard him scream.

"Come on, guys," said Ruby. "I think it's great that Zack trying."

"Rubes is right," said Iqbal. "There's honor in a good day's work."

"There's no honor working in that black hole," said Lon.

"At least we're not working at Maxi Mart," said Ruby.

They nodded in agreement.

"I heard that place really sucks," added Russell.

"I hear they make you wear one of those house-arrest ankle bracelet things, the dog collars, on your ankles," said Lon. "So they know where you are all the time and if you leave the main floor, you get a little shocker."

"Damn!" said Ruby.

"True. I knew a guy in upper management, man, went crazy. Strapped one of those to his hairy ball sack," Russell said. Ruby made a disgusted face; here he goes again talking about hairy ball sacks. "Ran out into the parking lot and blew a 3 Hawaiian wonder cooler all over the place."

"Russ, you are nasty!" Ruby said.

"Ids-Kay, ids-kay!" Iqbal said in Pig latin.

"Knocked a little Korean kid right out of his shopping basket."

"Speaking of 3 Honolulu wonder coolers," said Lon. "I heard Vince has a date with Amy tonight."

"Yes, he is. But that could prove problematic," said Zack. "I have his wallet."

They all laughed. "Alright!" they said, giving high fives.

"Dinner: 60. Drinks: 40. Being at the Steaksmith the exact same time that Vince has to pay for dinner and seeing that look on his face…" Ruby said.

"Priceless." They all said, laughing.

"Good one, Ruby Tuesday," said Zack. To the guys, "Want to get some pizzas and hookers?"

They all laughed.

After the party, the other three were staring at Ruby.

"What?" she said.

"Well, are you gonna make the move?" said Russell.

"I can't!" Ruby said, feeling nauseous and butterfly wings fluttered rapidly in her stomach. "Not now. It's too soon."

"You want to lose this once in a lifetime opportunity to find happiness," said Iqbal. "You just walk away."

"Alright. I'll do it."

Zack was putting his helmet on to get on his scooter. She called his name, her heart beating faster and the butterfly wings beat faster. Zack turned his head.

"Zack," she said.

"Yea, Rubes Tues. What's up?"

"I wanted to ask you…" she looked at her three friends who were saying with their faces 'come on what are you doing?' "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to have dinner…with me sometime."

Zack raised his eyebrows. Ruby Redford asking him out to dinner? It wasn't like her; she just was a friend to him, his next-door neighbor that he played with as a kid, and the best friend you went with to the prom.

"Um…sure. I'll talk to the guys and see if they'd like to join us."

"Actually," said Ruby. "I'd rather it be just the two of us."

"Oh?" Now this was interesting. An impish smile spread across his face. "Well, OK."

"How about Steaksmith? I'll make the reservations. How about when you get your first star? My treat."

"Sure." He smiled.

"Thank you. I'll see you at work."

"Yea. See you at work."

As Ruby drove home, she saw Vince and Amy at Amy's house. They were talking but she couldn't hear what they were saying. She watched as Vince leaned in to kiss Amy. Of course, it looked so horrible by the way she saw the look on Amy's face.

"All right. Good night. Good night."

She slammed the door in his face.

"Yessss," said Vince.

Ruby laughed. Man! Seeing Vince shot down by Amy! BURN! That was a wicked burn. Nope. A ÜBER, SUPER WICKED BURN!

As she drove home in her car, she dreamed about Zack. Zack all dressed up in a suit and tie…hmmm, maybe not a tie. Maybe with the collar open so she could peek at the flesh in his neck, maybe see some chest flesh. Maybe he'd wear some cologne. Who knew how the date would go? She'd wear a nice dress, make up and jewelry and perfume. They would chat over dinner and wine. But what she looked forward to most was the end of the date: the kiss good night. Maybe it would be a nice peck on the lips or a passionate lip lock where she could smell and feel him; drowning in the niceness of it all while he felt and smelled her. Maybe she'd invite him in for a drink and they would share a night of passion: her hands running through his bed head hair and scratchy face while he worshipped her.

Ah! How nice it would be! To be Zack's love! At last after all these years of pretending to be fine as a best friend.


	5. A Gold Star and Heartache

Chapter 4

A Gold Star and Heartache

Ruby told Lon, Russell, and Iqbal about what had happened like an excited kid on Christmas Day. They congratulated her.

"Zack's coming," said Russell.

"Shhh! Shut up, everyone! Just shut up!" said Ruby. "Don't let him know that you were in on it!"

They smiled.

"Or I'll fire your asses!"

Their smiles dropped and they nodded silently. Zack came in. They were all staring at Zack, as if they were going to burst.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing!" they all said.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"So…" Russell said, breaking the ice and changing the subject. "Did you hear about Vince's date with Amy?"

"Not really. He said something about kissing her. And then, I burned Vince by handing his wallet, saying I found in the aisle where the herpes medication was. And burned him again saying he had a little schmaltz on his lip."

"Nice," they all said.

"I saw what happened," said Ruby. "And man, oh man, I have to tell you what happened?"

"What, you saw it all?" Lon asked.

They all leaned in with interest as if they were little kids going on a treasure hunt together.

"Well, just the end of the date," she admitted. "I was driving home and I saw Vince and Amy on her porch. He kissed her. It looked like a really bad porno movie, except he was the bad part of it, like he was eating her face. After the kiss, she totally shot him down by pushing him away."

They all laughed.

"Damn! Vince Downey got burned!" said Zack.

"Man!" said Lon and Russell.

"I'd give anything to see Vince get burned by Amy," said Russell.

Ruby was busy counting money from the registers that she has just collected. Semi's voice came up on the walkie talkie.

"Manager Redford?"

"Yes?" she replied.

"We got a missing child: little boy with a red shirt on. Think you could find him?"

"Sorry, Semi. I'm kind of busy here doing pulls." She paused and got an idea. "Wait. Does Vince know about this?"

"No."

"Get Zack on the case. ASAP. Keep it quiet until Zack finds him."

"Yes, Miss Ruby."

Suddenly, a tennis ball hit her in the back of the head.

"OW!" she screamed. "What the fuck??"

All the customers who were walking by stopped dead in their tracks when she yelled 'fuck'. She blushed and smiled and apologized quietly. Pretty soon tennis balls were flying all over the place.

"What the hell?" she mumbled quietly.

Zack and Vince went towards the place where the tennis balls were coming from. There was a little boy, standing behind a ball shooter.

"No unauthorized use of the equipment!" yelled Zack.

"You want a piece of me?" yelled the boy.

"Get away from the machine!"

"You'll never take me alive!"

Vince and Zack dodged tennis balls as they flew at him with the force of a charging bull, hitting them in different parts of their bodies.

"Relinquish your weapon!"

"Bring it, bitches!"

They continued to dodge balls. Vince picked up a ball and hit him square in the forehead. The boy went down and was out cold.

"Oh!" said Zack. "That's nice!"

A ball hit him in the jaw and he yelled out in pain. Vince made his way towards the unconscious boy and soon a ball hit Zack in the balls and he went down like a sack of doorknobs.

"Oh no!" said Vince. "You were hit by a ricochet." He whispered in his ear, "I brought it, bitch!"

Balls kept on flying at Zack, hitting him as he crawled on the floor in pain from the ball that hit him in the nut sack. "Alright!" he yelled.

Ruby soon turned off the machine. He turned and saw her standing there and she ran to him.

"Oh! Good timing, Ruby Tues," he said. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said. "Need ice?"

"Yea."

"I guess I'll have to fill out an accident report," she smiled.

"You don't have to photograph my balls, do you?"

She smiled. "Yea. Just standard procedure." He rolled his eyes. "I'm just kidding. Jeez. You got no sense of humor."

"Well, I was just hit in the balls by a tennis ball. I don't think humor is on my mind right now," he said, with a mixture of pain and annoyance.

"Just meet me in security. I'll fill out an accident report."

He nodded as he struggled to get himself up.

And of course, Vince was carrying the little boy towards his mother. She hugged her son and then Vince for finding her son; his hand was on her ass. Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Thank you!" she said. To her son, "Let's go!"

"Mom!" he whined.

"Sorry, Zack," said Semi. "Here's a small pack."

He pressed the ice pack to his sore balls; he flinched and yelled with pain. Not only was the pain in his nuts, but in his spirit as he watched the managers shake hands with Vince, congratulating him on his good work with finding the lost child.

Again, another gold star next to Vince's name. Zack sighed as he watched Vince talk to Amy.

I'm gonna have to crank this up a notch. He thought.

Days went by, Zack willed himself to get up at 7:00 and get to work on time and put more effort into his job. Even Ruby was helping by using her wits and manager abilities to get him to improve, but still Vince conquered all and more gold stars kept lining up by his name. While the Losers Gang was playing Texas Hold 'Em, Zack was improving on his skills for work. Ruby didn't even have time to play Texas Hold 'Em; yet, they understood that she was a manager and she had more responsibilities.

However, that was not the only reason she wasn't hanging out anymore. She was a bit concerned about something. She was counting the money that was made this week. Something wasn't right. There seemed to be a surplus of money. She looked at the average that the store made and this week's amount that was made. It was too much money. It was strange. She went to the accounting office and looked at last month's mean. The money was too high. She looked at the month before. Same. She decided to meet with Dirk and tell him about her findings.

Iqbal sat next to Zack as he sat there with his spirit crushed from stupid Vince from being such a kiss ass.

"I know, I know. I missed drinks last night. Sorry."

"I'm not here for that," said Iqbal. "I came out here to pass gas."

"Man, this, uh, employee of the month thing is a lot harder than I thought," he began.

"Maybe you should just do it for yourself," suggested Iqbal. "For pride and the rest will come, even the girl." He paused. "The universe always has a plan, Zack."

Again, silence. Zack wrinkled his nose as he smelled a sulfuric smell. He looked at Iqbal and moved away.

"I told you."

"I'll see you later," he said.

"Dirk!" she called. He was walking up and down the registers with a clipboard.

"Yes, Ruby?" he said.

"There's something you need to know." She showed him the numbers. "I think there's been a surplus of cash."

"What do you mean?"

"I think that we're making too much money. I know it's not unusual to make too much money once in a while, but I've found that it's been happening for a couple of months. I looked at last month's mean and the month before. They're all the same."

"So, what are you saying?"

"I think that the customers are paying for things they didn't buy."

"You're sure about this?"

"Well, no. But, I would like to ask your permission if I could view the inventory logs of each department: starting from the last year."

"Since you have brought up this subject, I'll tell Glenn about this and see to it that you get the department managers inventory logs. Since you are a manager, we'll place our full trust in you to investigate."

"Thank you, sir."

"Damn!" said an old lady. "This thing's heavier than it looks." She struggled to get a coffin onto a cart.

"Hi," said Zack. "Do you need some help with that?"

"Yes, thank you." He helped her load it onto the cart. "It's for my husband."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear about that," he replied.

"Oh, he's not dead. Not yet." Zack stared uncomfortably. "It's too good of a deal to pass up."

"Well, do you need some help getting it to your car?" he asked.

"No, thank you. The lazy prick's waiting for me. I'll make him load it."

"Well, good luck murdering your husband," he replied.

She laughed as she walked away.

"If you need my help, holler."

"Excuse me," said the lady to Dirk, who was on the floor along side with Ruby.

"Yes?" he replied.

"That young man is wonderful." She pointed in the direction of Zack. "I'll be back for sure just because of him."

"That man there?" he gestured towards Vince, who was busy flirting with Amy.

"No!" she said. "This is the guy. He's a wonderful fella."

"May I help you find your car?" said Dirk.

"I know where it is, idiot," she replied, rudely. Ruby snarfed a laugh.

"Wow," said Ruby. "You got a compliment."

"Yea."

She sensed that he was going to get a gold star today.

"Don't forget, Zack. Dinner tonight with me."

He nodded. "I haven't forgotten."

"Good. I'll meet you at Steaksmith after work."

"OK."

Zack came into the employee locker room to drop off his apron and name tag. He saw Vince and Jorge standing in front of the Employee of the Month chart.

"Hey, Vince," said Zack. "What, did you get kicked out of the cashier's lounge?"

"No. just here to watch as I get even closer to victory," he replied. "Five more days until I seal the deal. Once I get 16, it's over."

"Your math skills are astonishing, Vince," he replied, sarcastically.

Semi came in with the gold star and the letter from management.

"Hey, here he is. The man of the hour," he commented. "Soon that Malibu will be mine."

Semi squinted his eyes as he searched for Zack's name and placed the gold star in the Number 16 slot where his name was.

"What? Give me this!" he looked at the letter from management.

"No mistake," came a reply from Dirk. "Zack has shown real improvement over the last week."

He shook hands with him. Soon, Iqbal came up to congratulate him. Zack's spirit lifted; he felt like King Kong on cocaine once he saw that glittering gold star.

Amy heard the commotion in the locker room.

"Wow, Zack!" she said, surprised. "You got a star! Fantastic."

"Oh, that's nothing, really."

"Nothing? What do you mean, 'nothing'? You should be out celebrating. Want to grab a drink after this?"

"Yea, sure." He completely forgot about his date with Ruby.

"Really? Great. I'm late shift so why don't you pick me up at around 9:00?"

"Perfect."

"Alright."

"Bye."

"Yea, later."

The guys cheered once Amy walked out of the room.

"Yea. The female lioness gets a whiff of that gold star," began Russell. "And just like that, she's crawling into your den of desire."

"You think? Really?"

"I got a gold star once," said Lon. "No, no. I didn't."

"Nice," said Vince's voice. "Pretty impressive that you snuck one in on me. But don't get used to it. It was a fluke. No box boy's ever won employee of the month. You got to be the QB of the MVP, baby. Can't be the punter."

"Tell that to a guy who didn't even get promoted to manager in one day," said a voice.

They all turned and saw Ruby. Vince's head sagged to the side. Everyone smiled as they watched Vince get burned by a former box girl who was promoted to manager.

"You just had to add more salt to the wound, didn't you, Ruby?" said Vince.

"That's Manager Redford to you, Vince," said Ruby in her most authoritative voice. "And if I catch you harassing Mr. Bradley, I'll fire your ass so fast, you won't even know what hit you."

He sighed and walked away. She smiled.

"Nice burn," they said.

Ruby went home after work and showered to get the stink of Super Club off of her body. She dreamed about her date with Zack as the hot water hit her body. She dried off the water on her body and combed out her hair in a towel, wiping the fogged mirror. She opened the door to go to her room. She dug into her closet and found a nice dress that she wore to last year's Super Club Formal Dinner. She put it on and her black heels. She twisted her hair up into a French twist and held it with a black hairclip. She put her make-up on: eye shadow and lipstick. She spritzed on the Japanese cherry blossom perfume, knowing Zack would like it.

She turned and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked so beautiful that she didn't even recognize herself. She chose a sparkly purse to bring with her. She teetered to her car in her heels, trembling with excitement.

Zack was back at his grandmother's house, getting dressed in a nice shirt and pants. He was excited. He was going on a date with Amy!

"Zacky!" said his grandmother. "What do you want me to make you for din-din?"

"I can't," said Zack. "I have a late dinner."

"Ooh!" she said, stepping into Zack's room. "With whom? With a girl?"

"Yup. New girl at work. Cashier. Her name is Amy. She's very pretty."

"Why, you look very handsome. Amy's a very lucky girl."

"Thanks, Grams."

"Maybe you should plant the seed tonight."

"What?"

"Plant the seed of love."

"Oh," he said, sighing with relief.

"You know, when you get ready to kiss her, don't. Because you mustn't rush things. Take it easy, because then the seed of love will blossom into something beautiful."

"Thanks, Grams."

"And don't forget…"

"Yes?"

"To wash your balls."

He hugged his Grandma.

Ruby walked into Steaksmith, dressed so nice. People in the restaurant stared at her; they hardly recognized her.

"May I help you?" said the hostess.

"Yes, reservation for two under the name of Redford."

"Ah, yes. An 8:00, right?"

"Yes."

"Where's your date?"

"Um…he's coming. His name is Zack Bradley. If he shows up, just let him in."

"Yes, miss."

She sat to take her seat. She sipped her water and waited.

It was 8:15. Zack hadn't shown up. Where was he? She took her cell phone out of her purse and called Zack's cell. Just went to voicemail. She called his grandmother's house.

"Hello?" said a voice.

"Hi, Mrs. Bradley," she said. "Is Zack there?"

"Who's this?"

"Ruby Redford. I'm Zack's best friend."

"Ruby! Oh, of course I remember you. Oh! You sound so grown up. It's been so long."

"Yes. Of course. Anyway, is Zack there?"

"No. He said he went out on a date. With a girl."

"Did he say who?"

"No. She said she was a cashier."

Ruby's brain just froze and her face fell. The cold stab of those words hurt so much that she couldn't do anything but resist tears.

"Ruby? Are you still there?"

"Yea," she said in a trembling voice, holding back tears. "I have to go. Sorry, Mrs. Bradley."

She hung up the phone. How could he forget? He stood her up! The waitress came over to her table.

"Miss?" she said. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you. In fact, I have to go. I'm sorry I wasted your time."

She got up, tears streaming down her face. She waited until she got to her car and let some tears fall. She decided since she was stood up on her date with Zack that she would go to the store and get some work done. She used her ID badge to get into the store…it didn't take a second that there was some voices coming from the electronic section. She quietly removed her stilettos and walked barefoot, not to disturb anybody and that's when she saw them! Zack and Amy were sitting in electronics watching the movie 'The Princess Bride'. Ruby fumed angrily. 'The Princess Bride' was her and Zack's first movie that they saw when they were kids. And to show that to another girl was so hurtful!

She didn't know how much she could take, but she ran towards the entrance, holding back every tear she had. She got to her car and started sobbing. Her makeup streamed in black rivers down her face, her head swelled up two sizes too big, and her entire body trembled.

Her hopes of snagging Zack were now dim…


	6. The Friend Card

Chapter 5

The Friend Card

After seeing what she just saw, Ruby went back to her apartment and threw off her dinner clothes angrily and jumped into her AC/DC shirt and sweatpants. She let her red hair down from that awful French twist and mussed it up with that sort of rolled out of bed look. She wiped off her smeared eye makeup and wiped off her lipstick. She picked up the phone and ordered a huge order of Chinese food from The Jade Palace (a Chinese restaurant just a block from her apartment). Sesame chicken, fried dumplings, sweet and sour chicken, kung pao chicken, fried rice and egg drop soup.

While waiting for her order, she opened the cabinets and took out a full box of Double-Stuf Oreos and chocolate and glazed donuts and placed them on her coffee table. Once the food arrived, she went downstairs to pick it up. The delivery man stared at her.

"Geez, Miss Redford," he said. "You look like shit. Everything alright?"

"Fine," she said, depressed. "Got stood up on a date."

"Sorry to hear. That'll be 20.45."

She handed him money as well as a tip and went back upstairs with her order.

Yup. It was time for a therapy session with food in order to mend a broken heart. She didn't care. She was stood up by the one person she really had feelings for and now that he was chasing that blonde tart of a cashier, she saw it was hopeless now. She was going to be a fat virgin forever. Maybe she should just join a nunnery. Nobody cared if you were a fat virgin.

She flipped the TV on and scanned the movie channel. The Princess Bride came up. Oh great! Just when she wanted to wallow in misery, the stupid TV had to add more salt to the wound. DAMMIT! She left it on anyway and went to the dining room to pull out a large, unopened bottle of sherry. She opened it and drank straight from the bottle, enjoying that sweet, alcoholic taste.

She sat on the couch, eating her Chinese food and taking occasional sips of sherry, watching The Princess Bride. She remembered when she first got it. It was her birthday and Zack got it for her as a present. That was their first movie together as kids. They ate popcorn on the couch and watched it, laughing and filled with awe during the sword fights. Hell, they even memorized the lines when they were kids.

Soon, the scene where Buttercup discovers that the Dread Pirate Roberts is Westley after pushing him down the hill.

"As…you…wish," said Westley.

"Oh, my sweet Westley!" said Buttercup. "What have I done?"

She jumped down the hill after him, yelling in pain as she tumbled down the hill after her beloved.

"Can you move at all?" asked Westley.

"Move?" said Buttercup. "You're alive. If you want, I can fly."

"I told you I would always come for you. Why didn't you wait?"

"Well, you were dead."

"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."

"LIAR!" Ruby screamed angrily, throwing a box of white rice at the TV; grains of rice stuck to the screen.

She flipped the channel to another movie. "Unfaithful". Oh God! Even worse!

"CHEATER!" she screamed at the screen, throwing Oreos at Diane Lane and Olivier Martinez having sex in bed.

She flipped again. This time was Rodger and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" with Leslie Ann Warren.

"You're a LOSER!" she screamed, throwing a donut at the singing prince played by Stuart Damon, leaving a chocolate stain on his forehead.

She flipped to the music channel and found George Thorogood and the Destroyers song "I Drink Alone". She drank the sherry and used the bottle as a microphone.

"I drink alone…" she yelled. "Yea! With nobody else! I drink alone. Yea, with nobody else. Yea, you know when I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself!" She screamed the first verse as she chugged the sherry…by the time she got to Jack Daniels, she passed out, hitting her head on the floor.

Snoring, Ruby slept on the floor, covered in Oreos, chocolate and glazed donuts, and leftover Chinese littered all over the place with an empty bottle of sherry in her hand.

The phone rang.

"Fuck off!" she moaned; her head felt two sizes too big and the sound of the phone ringing was extremely painful.

"Hey, you've reached Ruby Redford's residence. Can't come to the phone right now. Leave a message," said the answering machine.

"Hey, Ruby. It's Dirk from work. We were wondering where you are. You didn't show up for work today. Is everything alright? We really need you here at work. Glenn is having a crisis. If you could come in as soon as possible, give us a call."

Ruby sat up and realized what time it was. It was almost 9 AM! She was supposed to be at work to open up. Unfortunately, she was hung over from last night. She felt nauseous and ran to the bathroom and puked out all her dinner and snacks. It was a disgusting color that made her puke even more: chunks of undigested food floated in the puke and it was nauseating to look at and smell that she puked again.

She finished puking and stood up and looked at herself in the mirror: she had bags under her eyes, her hair was a mess and her face was smeared with chocolate from the donuts and crumbs from Oreos. She was pale and sick looking from indulging herself with a huge bottle of sherry.

"Dammit!" she moaned.

She picked up the phone to call work.

"Glenn Gary's office," said a voice.

"Hey, Glenn, it's Ruby."

"Oh, good, Ruby. I was worried about you. Is everything OK?"

"Yea. I'm fine. I guess. I'm sorry about not showing up for work. I kind of went out with some friends and got back late. I'll come into work. I can be there in a few minutes."

"Good. I'm glad. And don't worry about the attendance. You've had perfect attendance since you've been here. Anyway, we could really use you today. My brother, Glen Ross is coming in to do an audit. We're calling an emergency staff meeting and I could really use your help."

"I'm on my way," she said.

She hung up the phone and got dressed as quickly as possible. She swished her mouth with mouthwash to hide her alcoholic breath, yet still she looked like shit. She did a quick makeup on her eyes to hide her sunken in eyes.

Ruby walked in the door wearing her loafers and her best suit to look good for Glenn Gary's brother, Glen Ross. Her hair was up in a French twist, which was kind of messy from her drunken incident from last night. She sipped coffee that she bought on the way to work.

"Oh, good, Ruby," said Dirk. "You're here."

"What's the scoop, Dirk? Why are we having an emergency staff meeting?"

"Janet on check stand three past away."

"Great. It's Saturday and we're short of cashiers."

"That's what I said."

They walked into Glenn Gary's office.

"Good, Ruby. I'm glad you're here. What should I do?"

"Here's what we could do: since we're short on cashiers and it's Saturday. I'm sure the checkouts will be much busier than the other departments. I suggest that employees in other departments or box handlers could volunteer to be temporary cashier. I'll instruct them on how to work the register and then I'll see if anyone will fill the position."

"Is that legal?" he asked Dirk.

"Yea, apparently, he can. Yea," he replied.

Glenn hugged Ruby, who made a rather uncomfortable face with wide eyes.

"Oh, thank you, Ruby. You're an angel sent by God," he said. "If it weren't for you, this store would fall apart. You're the glue that holds this store together. Wait 'til my brother, Glen Ross, meets you. He'll be so impressed on how you keep this store together."

Ruby smiled weakly with a twinge of headache in her head.

"Sir, about the inventory reports from the other departments…"

"Oh, yes, Dirk told me about that. I called the warehouse to ship over the inventory reports from the departments. They should be here tomorrow or so."

"I'll have my findings to you before the banquet."

"Good. That's fine."

Together the three managers went to the staff locker room for the meeting.

"I've called you in here for two things," said Glenn. "The girl on check stand 13 has passed away."

"Oh my God!" said someone. "Mary's dead!"

Everyone gasped and whispered.

"I don't believe it."

"Oh, Lord, why?"

"Sir," said Dirk. "It's Janet on 3."

"Sorry, I meant Janet on 3."

There were sighs of relief and 'thank gods' all over.

"But, my big brother, Glen Ross, is coming in today to see how we're all doing."

"Corporate," added Dirk.

"And, yes, he can be very intimidating. But don't let him get to you. Don't let him get to you. That's just his way. So, we cannot let the lines get above 25 shoppers. OK, people? We really need everyone to step it up."

"That's impossible. We're short one checker and it's Saturday."

"Ruby, if you would, please," Glenn whispered.

Ruby stepped forward.

"Mr. Gary has informed me that because we are short on cashiers, I, as floor manager, have been asked to ask all sales associates in every department and box handlers to volunteer whether they would like to be a temporary cashier until we can find someone to replace Janet on 3. I will instruct the temp on how to operate the register. If there is anyone who wishes to fill the position, come and see me."

Everyone was very impressed with Ruby's speech. She sounded so much like a manager who was sure of herself. Glenn and Dirk were exceptional, but otherwise they seemed unsure of themselves. They nodded their heads; she saw Iqbal, Lon, and Russ give her thumbs up.

"Now, is there anyone here who would like to be a temp or possibly fill the position?"

"I'll do it," said Zack.

"Oh, God," laughed Vince.

"I'll work check stand number three."

"Great, Zack," said Glenn. "I'll toss you into training immediately. See Ruby after the meeting."

Ruby felt her stomach lurch and her heart stung from the pain from being broken. She did all she could to remain dignified.

"You can't be serious," said Vince.

"Yea," said Ruby, nodding.

"He'll never be ready for next shift. I mean, you can't just walk in off the street and do what we do. It takes years and years of training. I mean, let's just let him a tracheotomy while we're at it. I mean, this is ridiculous."

"Silence, Vince," Ruby said, sharply.

Everyone's eyes went wide. Even Vince was shocked, looking at his once inferior co-worker who had managed to jump the corporate ladder in one day. She was now his superior and just hearing that from her scared him.

"If you have a complaint, file it with management. Right now, we are out of options and if Zack is willing to do this job, I'm glad to say to see he's stepping forward to do this."

Everyone still stared at her, filled with awe and wonder at how she handled this so calmly.

"Thank you, Ruby," said Glenn. "She's right. I'm up against a wall. And if it weren't for Ruby, this store would fall apart."

She whispered to Dirk. "Dirk, take care of him. I'll finish up the meeting."

"Thanks."

Glenn and Dirk walked together to calm him down. Ruby concluded the meeting.

Zack knocked on the door in the training office. She was there waiting for him.

"Hey, Rube Tues," he said.

"Zack. Good to see you." Her stomach lurched uncomfortably sick. She wanted to tear him apart after what he did.

"So, how was your night?"

"Good," she said, still trying to remain calm. "Just hung out with my old friend, Sherry and had some Chinese."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Just forget it." She reached into her pocket to pull out the fortune from the fortune cookie from her dinner. "I found this in my dinner last night."

Zack read the fortune.

"'Your loyalties are clear when it comes to friends'." He paused. "Wonder what that means."

"Did you forget about something last night?"

"Um…no…not that I…" that's when it hit him.

(don't forget dinner with me zack)

"Oh God! I'm sorry…I…"

"It's fine," she said, waving her hand as a gesture to say forget it.

"I'll make it up to you, Ruby."

"It's not necessary, really."

"No. I want to." He paused. "Are we still friends?"

She smiled weakly. "Yea, sure."

After training with Zack, she got a page from Dirk to come with him on her walkie talkie.

"Good luck," she said.

"Thanks," he replied.

She went to meet with Dirk and Glenn Gary.

"Are you OK, sir?" Dirk asked. "I've never seen you like this before."

"You don't know what it's like, okay, to come home from school every day and have your big brother physically torture you, day in and day out," said Glenn. "It was awful."

"Well, maybe he's changed, sir," said Dirk.

"No, he's worse. He can be so emasculating. And I don't appreciate you siding with him."

"I'm not siding with him!"

"You just did."

"I didn't."

"Well, good."

"Gentlemen!" Ruby said. "You sound like boys with toys. Mr. Ross would probably not like seeing managers argue. It reflects a bad image on the store."

They stared at her. They were very impressed.

"Ruby, you're a good manager," said Glenn.

Soon, a short man, surrounded by a committee of four people, taking notes as he spoke.

"Bigger smile!" said a short man. "Make a note. Old guy should be older." He shouted to a man at photo. "Straighten that tie!" He looked down, confused as of why he said that.

"Back to work!" he said to two employees that were on a break. "Hello, sir. How are you? Nice to see you."

"Hi, how are you?" said a customer.

"Check his receipt on the way out," he said to a man behind him.

Glenn, Ruby and Dirk were running towards the entrance to meet his big brother, Glen Ross.

"You! Grab a rag!" he yelled at the customer service employee. "Now!" Soon, there was a pause. "Little brother," he said.

Ruby wasn't sure what to do. After hearing about Glenn Gary talk about his big brother and how big and intimidating he sounded, the moment she saw Glen Ross, she didn't know whether to laugh or stay shut. Glen Ross stood about three feet tall, dressed in a black suit, a white shirt, and a blue tie with a cane.

"Hey there," said Glenn.

"Bend over," he said. "Like you haven't heard that before."

"I really don't think that's appropriate…"

"Come on, get down here."

"Please don't."

"Come on, get down here."

"Please."

"Come on. Come on."

Glenn Gary bent down towards his brother and soon, Glen Ross was giving him a noogie, laughing. Ruby could do all she could to keep her laughing inside.

"Who's your boss? Who's your boss? I am, aren't I?"

"You are. You are."

"Good to see you."

"It's great to see you. It really is. So, what brings you in here, so early? I thought you were only coming for the banquet."

"I want to make sure you're running this place up to my standards. I don't want to have to get rid of my own kin." Soon, Glen Ross saw Ruby and eyed her up and down. "Line's looking a little long."

"No, no. Never more than 25," Ruby said.

Who's this?" he pointed his cane at Ruby.

"Oh, this is our new floor manager, Ruby Redford."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Ross, sir," she said, smiling.

"Pleasure, Miss Redford," he replied. "My brother has told me how you manage to keep this place running. I'm very impressed."

"Thank you, sir." She paused.

She went to the podium to take attendance. She collected money when the registers were full and counted them in the podium. Still, there was more money in the drawer like all the times she had noticed. She was sure something was up. Soon as the inventory reports came in, she would be able to find out what is going on hopefully.

Still, she was so hurt from last night; she felt as if she had been hit with an axe. She felt nauseous, her stomach was ready to collapse and her heart broke slowly into tiny pieces. Her best friend didn't even know she existed. Sure, she was a confident, cool manager on the floor at Super Club and yet, she couldn't even work up the nerve to tell her best friend her own true feelings.

Ruby was in the locker room with her friends at the water cooler, drinking coffee, trying to rid the nausea, holding back her tears as much as she could. Semi came in and placed a second gold star next to Zack's name.

"Dammit!" yelled Vince. "What the frick is going on? I'm going over your head!" he yelled at Dirk.

"Vince!"

"I got two," Zack whispered.

"Hey, Zack," said Dirk. "Here's your new cashiers' lounge card. You just slide it in the machine and you'll get full access."

"Great. Great. Thanks, Dirk." He looked at his new cashiers' lounge card. "Ooh. Slide 'em in." Then he saw that his four loser friends were looking at him with resentment. "They gave me one of those stupid cards with the slide thing." He tossed it in the trash. "Like I'd ever use that."

"I'm sure you would, you liar!" Ruby said with a tremor in her voice. She shoved past him, nearly crying.

"What's her problem?" Zack said, confused.

They shrugged.

"I'll talk to her," said Iqbal.

"Congratulations on the star, man," said Russell.

They walked away.

The Loser Gang went to look for Ruby. They heard quiet sobs coming from the filing room and they could guess that it was her. Iqbal knocked on the door.

"Rubes, are you in there?" he asked.

"FUCK OFF!" she yelled.

"Rubes," said a voice. "It's Iqbal."

"Oh, sorry," she moaned.

Ruby opened the door and stuck her red, teary face out the door; her eye makeup was black rivers.

"Damn, Lubes," said Russell. "What, did you get hit by a bus or something 'cause you look like it."

"Rubes, you were late for work today," said Iqbal. "It's not like you to be late."

"I know."

"What happened?"

"Yea, what's with the whole soap opera act in the locker room?" asked Lon.

"Zack stood me up on our date," she said.

"He stood you up?" said Iqbal.

"Yea. And that's not all: I found him in the store and he was with Amy…watching our movie! The Princess Bride was our movie when we were kids. Showing our movie to another girl just hurts me like a kick in the balls."

"Oh, Rubes," said Russell. "We're so sorry. We…we got so excited when Zack got a gold star that we probably encouraged him to go with Amy."

"Not intentionally, you know," said Iqbal.

"You know how we guys work," said Russell. "We get all excited when a hot chick talks to our friend…"

"I get it, Russ!" she said. "And what, I'm not as hot as Amy, is that what you're saying?"

"No!" said Russell. "Rubes Lubes, you're a hot, red blooded, redhead with a fiery temper. I'd bang you anytime. Plus, you're a boss. It's a hot fantasy for us lower class employees to want to bang their boss on the desk…"

"Thank you…Russ…" said Ruby, feeling a wave of nausea coming. "Could you please keep the dirty, sex jokes to a minimum, Russ or else I'm going to blow chunks on you."

"So, what are you going to do?" asked Iqbal.

"Well, Iqbal, I've lost Zack forever, man. I just don't see it happening. Maybe it's just not in the cards."

"You can't just give up!" said Russell. "You're a fricken' virgin and you still haven't gotten cozy with your best friend that you wanted to bang all your life!"

"Russell, if you make one sex joke again, I swear I'm going to blow chunks all over you," Ruby warned, covering her mouth in order to avoid any projectile vomiting.

"What's with all this talk about vomiting, man?" asked Lon.

"Come on, Rubes," said Iqbal. "You just gotta keep trying. I'm sure Zack will see that you exist. You've got to go up to him and tell him how you feel. You don't need to tell him over an expensive dinner."

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry I'm being such a girl. I don't act like this normally. Besides, I wanted it to be special when I tell him how I feel." She sighed. "I suppose I could try again."

"Yea," said Iqbal. "I think it's time you put away the friend card."

"Eight balls is right, Rubes Lubes," said Russell. "You've always played the friend card with Zack. You should pull out the lover's card and bang his brains out while you can."

Ruby knew her friends were right. Perhaps it was time to put away the friend card. She had always played the best friend for years since she and Zack were kids.

"OK. The friend card is going in the recyclables," she said.

Her friends cheered. "Good."

She reached into her pocket and threw an invisible card in the recyclables.

"I bet there someone else out there that probably needs it."


	7. Invisible

Chapter 6

Invisible

Ruby went shopping at the Natural Foods store to buy organic tea to help her lose those pounds she packed on just yesterday from gorging herself from depression. While heading towards the organic fruits, she saw Zack. Her spirits lifted and she felt confident enough to tell him how she felt. Perhaps they could shop together and she could tell him all the feelings she felt for him. She wanted to forget that he blew off their date.

Soon, Amy bumped into him. That's what ruined it.

"What are you doing here?" she said.

"What are you doing here?" he said. "You can't tell the guys that I shop here, OK? Because I'm pretty picky about what I eat."

"Uh, Zack, honey?" said his grandma. "I can't seem to find the Smooth Move laxative tea."

"Um, yea. It's over in the disgusting section, Grandma," he said.

"Oh, you must be the big-eared girl."

"This," said Zack. "Amy, is my beautiful grandmother."

"Nice to meet you."

"I'll meet you outside," she whispered to Zack. "And don't be late. Boy, is she smoking hot."

"Don't listen, right now, please," said Zack, embarrassed.

"So, you don't live with your mom, huh?" said Amy.

"I never said anything about my grandmother," he replied. "Now, can we please finish this conversation in organic vegetables?"

She watched as they walked in the organic vegetables aisle, talking about why Zack lived with his grandmother: he was a hot-shot that came straight out of college, thinking he knew everything. But, he borrowed a lot of money to get his company started, but lost all his money trying to build his unsuccessful company.

This was too much! Ruby was so hurt and sick from watching all of this it was like watching him blow off her date. She ran away, bumping into shoppers, grabbing her tea and went to the check out, barely keeping a straight face from crying.

"Oh, sorry," said Zack's grandma. "Oh. Do I know you?"

"Yes, Mrs. Bradley," she said. "Ruby Redford. I used to live next-door to Zack when we were kids."

"Oh! That's right. My, my! You've gotten so big. The last time I saw you, you were six-years-old, running around naked with little Zacky on the lawn."

Ruby blushed. God! She had to bring up that memory!

"Yea. Apparently, that went out of phase for me," she said, going along with the joke.

His grandmother laughed. "So, what do you do now, Ruby?"

"I'm a floor manager at Super Club now. I somehow managed to skip up the corporate ladder."

"That's wonderful, dear. And are you seeing anyone?"

Not that it was her fault because she was an old lady, but just hearing that hurt her.

"Uh…well, to be honest, not really."

"Are you OK, dear? You look like you're going cry."

"Honestly, I'm fine," she said, trying to hold back her tears. "I have allergies." There was a slight tremor in her voice. "I have to go. It was nice seeing you, Mrs. Bradley."

"Nice to see you, Ruby. I'll tell Zacky you said hello."

"Of course." She smiled weakly and ran out of the store, nearly crying.

"Zacky," said his grandma. "I saw your friend, Ruby at the store today."

"You did?"

"Yes. I told her about the time you and she used to run around naked on the lawn when you were kids."

Zack buried his head in his hands, completely embarrassed.

"She seemed a bit upset today," she continued.

"She did? Did she say why?"

"No. She said she had allergies or something."

That's when he saw her running towards her car, clutching her paper bag.

"Hey, Rubes Tues," he called.

"Oh, hey, Zack," she said, holding back her tears.

"You OK?"

"Yea. Fine."

"Listen, since I missed our date, how 'bout I make it up with you?"

She smiled.

"Sure," she said. "Dinner and drinks at my place. Video games and dessert afterward."

He looked interested. "Nice! I'm looking forward to that."

"OK. See you tomorrow."

"You too."

Zack had gotten three stars so far. Vince stared venomously at the E of M tracking record. He had done everything he could to win this competition. However, he started slipping that he couldn't ring up the last item, toilet paper, in five minutes that he ended up blinding a stock boy and he fell off the ladder, hurting himself.

Ruby was so excited about her date with Zack that she completely forgot about the last one. She changed the sheets in her bed and cleaned her apartment. She even bought new lingerie (you never knew when you needed it).

Ruby decided to stay late at the office, working on the report. She was completely burned out from working overnight. One time, she fell asleep at Glenn Gary's desk and would wake up when it was time to open the store.

"Ruby?" said Glenn. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," she said.

"Did you sleep here?"

"I was working on the report and I fell asleep."

"You should go home. You've been working your ass off."

"I'm fine. I'll just go get some coffee. I really would like to finish this report."

"OK. I'll have Dirk cover your shift while you work."

"Thanks."

She went to Starbucks to buy some coffee: a caramel frappachino. She sat down at the desk to look at the inventory logs that came in today along with the accounting log.

"Miss Ruby?" said Semi.

"Oh, hey, Semi."

"You seem sad," he said. "Everything OK?"

"Yea, fine."

"What you doing?"

"Looking at inventory reports and accounting reports." She punched the numbers in the calculator, moving her hair aside. She was sure smelled like the store and office by now. She hadn't showered in a while. "This isn't adding up."

"What?"

"Well, I've been looking at the inventory logs and the amount of products we sold this week, but the numbers in the accounting aren't adding up. Also, I've noticed that there have been more inventory orders put in this year."

"What does this mean?"

"It means someone in this store is either not ringing up the products correctly or…someone is giving them away for free on purpose."

"Who would do that?"

She thought about all those times she saw something fly up in the air whenever she walked by Vince's register…she soon had a hunch that popped in her mind…

"Semi," she said. "Would you do me a favor?"

"Anything for you, Miss Ruby," he said.

"I need you to pull up the surveillance videos, starting from last year."

"OK. But, you're gonna have to do something for me."

"OK. I'll give you a raise."

"No." He pointed to his cheek.

"What? What do you want me to do?"

"You know, Miss Ruby." He had an impish grin on his face, pointing to his cheek.

"You dirty man," she laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

He smiled as he blushed, laughing.

"Can I help too?" he asked.

"Of course. Just look through the footage and if you see anything suspicious, let me know."

He nodded.

"Thanks, Miss Ruby."

Sick of reading all those numbers and punching numbers into the calculator, she closed the logs and rubbed her eyes. She went on her lunch break to pick up stuff for her date tonight. She was so excited about their dinner and drinks at her place. She and Zack eating their chicken and sharing a mixed drink (during college, she was a bartender for a while) and tell him her feelings. She bought a chicken and herbs and spices and stopped at the liquor store. She even bought condoms (hey, you never knew when you needed them). She hid the liquor under the desk in brown paper bags so it wouldn't heat in the car and she went back to the office to finish the report.

"Rubes?" said Iqbal.

"Yea?" she said.

"What did you do to our clubhouse?" Lon demanded.

"Lon, calm down," said Iqbal.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, looking up from her paperwork.

"Our clubhouse. It's stacked with pallets of Velveeta cheese," said Russell. "Did you do this?"

"No. Why would I stick pallets in our clubhouse?" she said.

"Well, you are manager," said Lon. "You have the authority to put whatever wherever you want."

"Yea, but I would never do that! I didn't even know about these pallets of cheese. I've been in this office all day working and I just left for my lunch break. I've been gone all day."

"I knew it," said Lon. "I knew sucky Zack did this. He sucks ass."

"Let's go kick his ass!" said Russell. "I just saw him go into the cashier's lounge."

The four of them stood outside the cashier's lounge waiting for Zack to come out like four gunmen ready to shoot him. He came out with a cocky smile on his face.

"Hey, guy," said Russell. "What the hell happened to our lounge?"

"I know what you're thinking, guys," said Zack. "But I'm three days from winning this thing. I just gotta do what it takes, alright? Small sacrifices. If I put some cheese up in the clubhouse, you guys got to suck it up a bit. You know, it's just a temporary thing. You with me? Trust, is it right there?" He paused. "This is what I'm thinking. At the end of this thing, if it goes the way I think it's gonna go, I'm gonna be able to get you guys into that lounge. I know it. Cool?"

Russell shook his head. Lon and Iqbal looked livid.

"I can see it's cool. Alright."

They all turned away, disgusted. Ruby was about to go back to the office when Zack called her.

"Oh, Rubes," said Zack. "I'm going to have to cancel our date tonight."

"Oh," said Ruby, disappointed. "What's going on?"

"Well, Amy asked me out. I want to know if that's alright with you?"

"Um…" Ruby bit her lip in anger. "I guess. It's fine. It's not that important."

"Thanks, Rubes Tues," said Zack. "You're a great friend."

"Yea," she said.

Her heart was breaking slowly and the nausea was coming in powerful waves and tears were seeping from the springs as she watched him run away to register three. She had the urge to punch him. She was so hurt! She grabbed a tissue to dab her wet eyes out of her pocket.

She caught up with her friends.

"Hey, guys," she said. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Just going out to Steaksmith and having drinks," said Iqbal.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Of course!" said Russell. "What happened? You look like a bus hit you."

"I'll tell you later at drinks," she said. "Excuse me a moment." She ran to the bathroom and sobbed for the rest of the day.

At the Steaksmith, Ruby chugged down tequila shots one by one like rapid fire.

"Hey, take it easy, Rubes," said Iqbal. "You'll make yourself pass out."

"Don't give a fuck!" she said. "I'm mourning my life as a singleton."

"Why? What happened?" asked Russell.

"Zack dumped me…again…for Amy," Ruby said, shooting another tequila shot down. She winced at the burning sensation as it went down. "Ever since he became employee of the month, he's been acting like a total ass," said Lon.

"I agree," said Ruby, her heart sinking lower, drunk. "Damn, I wish I hadn't nominated him in the first place."

"Wait!" said Iqbal. "You nominated him to be employee of the month?"

"Yes, I did."

"Why would you do that?" asked Lon.

"When you guys said he wanted to win so badly, I thought I should help. I thought that if I nominated him, he would do it for self respect. I had to kiss Glenn Gary's ass just to get him nominated. I didn't know he was going to turn into a cocky asshole."

They looked at each other. She did have a point.

"I guess I created a monster," she said, sighing. "I'm such a loser."

"At least you're not a backstabber like sucky Zack," said Lon.

After drinks, Iqbal decided to drive Ruby home. She had passed out drunk, crying, makeup smeared on her face. Once he got her to her apartment, he placed her gently on the couch and let her sleep.

Ever since Zack had cancelled their date, Ruby was crushed inside. She came into work the past few days on the brink of crying. She spent her breaks and lunch hours crying: locking herself in the manager's office, sometimes in the filing closet, and her car. She would go home and drink to the point passing out and would wake up vomiting and hung over at work. She even came in late sometimes to work. She didn't bother brushing her hair or putting on makeup. She barely ate because the sight of food made her nauseous; she only indulged herself with Double-Stuf Oreos or chocolate donuts at lunch. She wouldn't even talk to her friends. They were worried about her.

The only friend who wasn't worried was Zack. Ruby would see him hanging out with Amy on their breaks, talking and laughing; she would even get piggyback rides from him as well. Ruby could do all she could from crying, but she couldn't hold it back. It hurt her so much to see that her best friend was clearly oblivious to her hurt feelings. All she could do was keep a smile on her face, forcing all the dignity could muster and be happy for him.

Worried that she might become an alcoholic like her dad, she chose to stay late after work and continue to work on the report to get her mind off of booze and Zack, reading inventory and accounting logs until she fell asleep in Glenn's office, reading.

The next day was the company game. There was nothing that could compare to hitting a softball with a bat. She decided that she would imagine the ball was Zack's head and smash it out of the park. Everyone was at the front of the store for the meeting.

"As you know," said Glenn Gary. "Corporate, aka my big brother Glen Ross will be attending the game. So it's very important to me and to you all that we beat Maxi-Mart today. And since the passing of…"

He looked at Dirk.

"Janet," he answered.

"Janet, we are in dire need and could really use an outfielder." There was a long silence. "Anyone? Anyone. An outfielder, so…"

An employee in a wheelchair raised her hand up, but Glenn Gary glanced at her, but looked away, looking around desperately. Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Anyone? Somebody?"

The girl's hand kept waving frantically.

"Anyone at all?" Soon Zack came to join the meeting. "Some…Zack Bradley. You're our guy."

"Yea."

"OK. That's good. Yes. OK. Alright. Everybody, be safe out there."

Ruby approached Zack like an authoritative manager. Iqbal had asked her to remind him to cover for him while he was at his son's soccer game.

"Zack, you can't go to the game. Iqbal asked you to cover for him. He has to go to Mikhal's soccer game. It's the championships. Remember?"

"Oh…I can't."

"Zack, you made a promise to your friend. Don't you think you should hold onto that promise?"

She had a point.

"You're right. I got it."

"You're sure?"

"Yea. I'm cool."

"Good. You're a good friend, Zack." She felt really hurt inside because she lied. He hurt her twice so far.

"Thanks. You are too."

She nodded, tears flooding her eyes. She regretted telling him this.

She got her uniform on (managers were required to attend the games, of course). Glenn Gary accidently washed the white and red uniforms with the red socks so they ended up wearing pink uniforms. Glen Ross yelled at his brother:

"Why are our uniforms pink?"

"We accidently washed them with the red socks."

"Play ball," said the umpire. "Super Club, take the field."

Glenn Gary counted the players. "Dang it. We're still short…"

Ruby just took off into the field.

"Ruby!" he called. "Zack Bradley's your friend, right? Where is he? Did you see him today?"

"No," she lied. She didn't care if they were short. She didn't want him near her. If she did, she was sure she would beat the crap out of him after dumping her for Amy. Though she held no grudges against anyone that Zack dated, she resented Amy for stealing her best friend that she had feelings for.

The game began. The first inning was Super Club: 2 and Maxi-Mart: 8. Ruby managed to catch a few balls, but most of them went into the outfield or over the fence that people had to struggle over to get the ball. Glen Ross threw a temper tantrum and Vince yelled at the team:

"Look alive out there, for Christ's sake!"

"SHUT UP, VINCE!" Ruby would yell back.

When it was their team was up to bat, Ruby imagined the ball was Zack's head and smashed it into the outfield. It helped their team go up a few points, but some of her smashed balls ended up being caught due to her near break-downs.

"Dump me, will you?" she kept thinking. "I'm as hot as Amy. I wouldn't sleep with you just because you're employee of the month. You should be backstabbing friend of the year, Zack, you backstabbing jerk!"

By the third inning, it was Super Club: 4 and Maxi-Mart: 10. They were still losing, but Ruby didn't care. 

As long as Zack wasn't here, she would be fine. As long as she kept hitting the ball into the outfield, they could win. She and Zack were good softball players.

That's when he showed up. Everyone on Super Club cheered and Amy had a look of surprised while Ruby looked very livid. Zack did an amazing dive and caught the ball. Everyone on Super Club's team cheered.

"That's what I'm talking about, Zack!" cheered Glen Ross.

Soon, Zack and Ruby were smashing balls out of the park. She glared at him angrily.

Vince kept yelling at the umpire that all the bats were corked or his catches were bad. Ruby rolled her eyes in annoyance. When in the field, she wouldn't even throw the ball to Zack, but in the other direction.

"Rubes!" he yelled. "What? I was wide open."

"Oops, sorry. Didn't see you there," she replied sarcastically.

By the 7th inning, it was Super Club: 9 and Maxi-Mart 12. When they were up to bat again, Glen Ross tried to steal to home plate, but ended up getting out.

"You're out!"

"What? What are you talking about?" yelled Glen Ross.

"You heard me! I said you're out!"

They argued for a few minutes.

By the ninth inning, it was Super Club 15 and Maxi-Mart 13. They were winning. Ruby didn't want to talk to Zack. She wouldn't even look at him.

Now, the score was Super Club 15 and Maxi-Mart 14.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Time," said Zack.

"What? Time out? Can we respect the sanctity of the game here?" Vince said.

"Everyone take a knee here. Hop down here. Grab a knee. Come on." Zack said to everybody.

Ruby stayed as far away from him as possible; just being near him made her sick.

"Alright. We can win this. We can win this the Super Club way, OK? And until today, I didn't even know what that meant. In fact, I still don't, but I know this. We're a team out here. I mean, look at us. Glen Ross, I thought you were going to be a stuffed shirt out here, The way you took down that catcher, are you kidding me? You're the balls, man. You're the balls and the taint. You're that whole region."

Glen Ross smiled, puffing his chest out like a proud peacock.

"And you," Zack pointed to the catcher. "I don't even know you on a personal level, but you sign off my paychecks. That's a good thing."

He turned to Amy.

"Amy, you're wonderful. Don't ever change."

He went to Glenn Gary.

"Glenn Gary, you got us pink uniforms, yes. But you know what? That's what unites us. These uniforms unite us, because we are all pink inside, right."

"Yea!" everyone said.

"Yea, we're pink like vaginas," Vince yelled.

Everyone stared at him and he walked away uncomfortably.

"Good guess, Vince. We're Super Club. Where buying in bulk is what?"

"Our god given right!"

"Let's win this game!"

"YEA!"

While everyone went back to their positions, Ruby went up to Zack.

"What are you doing here?" she said. "You were supposed to be covering for Iqbal at work!"

"Oh, relax. Nobody showed up at electronics anyway."

"What? Are you crazy?" Ruby rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Is there a problem here?" asked Glen Ross.

"No," Ruby said. "Sir. Everything is just fine."

"Well, why don't you two get your asses in the field and help us win this game?"

They parted their separate ways. Zack laughed it off; perhaps Ruby was just being childish like she was when they were kids. But, seeing how she was acting, ignoring him and throwing the ball in the opposite direction of him, he was sure it was serious.

They had one out left. If Super Club got Maxi-Mart out, the game was over. Jorge pitched the ball and it went deep.

"I got it!" yelled Vince.

Vince ran backwards towards the direction of outfield. Zack came charging after it and soon, they collided and went airborne and crashed on the grass on their backs. Moaning in pain, Zack held up the ball with a painful, but triumphant smile.

The entire crowd went wild and cheered.

They went back to the store and celebrated with champagne.

"OK, people. Quiet down everyone!" said Dirk.

"OK. Let's get down to business." There was a silence. "Thank you, Zack for coming through for us."

"A sweet victory!" cheered Glen Ross.

"Congratulations," said Dirk.

Amy hugged Zack and Ruby felt sick to her stomach with rage.

Glenn Gary placed a star next to Zack's name.

"What this means is a tie for employee of the month, which has never happened before."

There was some clapping.

"So, we've decided," said Glen Ross. "That tomorrow at the banquet, we're going to have a check stand ring-off. Winner take all."

There were cheers and claps amongst the employees.

"Now, back to work. Be safe out there. Nice job everyone," said Glen Ross.

Ruby watched as Zack walked away with Amy in tow, smiling…she was once again that girl…that loser in her green dress at prom night after party, watching her best friend that she had been hoping to lose her virginity to…she had everything planned: she bought sexy panties and condoms, practiced in front of a mirror about what she was going to say to him…making out with the slutty cheerleader captain, Crystal Harmond. It was prom night all over again: Zack running off with the buxom blonde with a sexy body while the loser best friend stood there, pretending it was fine, so hurt…


	8. The Friendship Theme

Chapter 7

The Friendship Theme

Ruby came to work, dressed in her usual manager clothes. Her stomach was nauseous and she felt a huge hole inside herself. She ran into Iqbal; his head lowered and sad.

"What happened?" she asked.

"They fired me," he said.

"I'm sorry, Iqbal," she said. "I swear I told Zack…"

"I'm not mad at you, Rubes. You did your job as a manager."

"Listen, Iqbal, if you want, I'll talk to Glenn Gary about getting your job back…"

"I'll think about it."

The four of them stood around the locker room, giving Iqbal as much support for the loss of his job.

"You guys!" called Zack, running in, excited. "I did it! I did it! I tied it up!"

They all glared at him.

"I tied it up." They still glared at him. His face dropped. "What's going on?"

"They fired him," Ruby said, glaring at him.

"Apparently, Action Media did a special on dirty electricity," said Russell. "And there was a mad rush on power strips while Iqbal was at Mogala's soccer game," said Russell.

"But I was…" Zack began.

"You were supposed to cover for me!" said Iqbal. "We had a deal."

"OK, wait a minute," Zack said, taking a step forward. "I was taking your advice. Taking pride in my work. But that is a little harder when I'm taking pride in your work too."

Iqbal glared at him, disgusted and carried a box of his things and slammed his locker, storming away.

"Wait a minute, let me say something."

"I think you've done enough, guy," said Russell, stopping Zack from going after Iqbal.

Lon stepped up to Zack, staring at him through his huge glasses. "I can see right through you," he said.

He walked away. Only Ruby stood there with her arms crossed.

"Rubes…"

"Great news, Zack," said Glenn Gary. "We're taking all the cashiers to the Steaksmith. Come on, let's go." He paused, smiling. "You made me so proud out there, you know." He looked at Ruby. "Oh, Rubes, management is required to attend. You know…"

Ruby nodded. "I know. But, before we go," Ruby said, putting on her professional façade in her most professional tone. "I need to speak to Zack Bradley in management's office."

"Is there a problem, Ruby?" asked Glenn Gary.

"Oh, no," said Ruby. "I need to speak to him about a few things about work."

Glenn Gary nodded. "Did he do something wrong?"

"Oh, no. It's nothing serious. Quite minor actually."

"OK. We'll see you later."

Together they went to Glenn Gary's office and Ruby closed the door behind her.

"I can't believe how selfish you are!" she said. "Dumping your friend's needs for your own!" She paused. "You know, the only reason you want to win E of M is because you want to get into Amy's pants."

"What…I do not!" Zack said, horrified and very embarrassed, knowing that Ruby had hit a very sensitive spot.

"You do too! You are an arrogant, lying, backstabbing jerk. You know, you wouldn't even be E of M if I didn't nominate you."

Zack stared when he heard these words, shocked and unable to speak.

"Wait, wait. You nominated me?"

"That's right. When the guys told me how much you wanted to win this thing, I had to kiss Glenn Gary's ass just to get him to agree to nominate you. He didn't want to at first, but I told him what a great guy you were and that's how you got nominated. But, now that I think about it, I realize I created a monster. In fact, you don't deserve to be nominated employee of the month, you should be backstabbing jerk of the year."

"What? What did I do?"

"You used to be tight with your friends. Someone we could count on. And yet here you are, dumping your friend's needs for your own. Kind of like how you dumped me for Amy, not only once, but TWICE!"

"You said you were fine!"

"I lied! Let me ask you this: haven't you seen anything wrong with me lately? How I've been showing up late for work or coming to work, all burnt out? No! You obviously don't care! I thought we were friends!"

"We are friends!"

"Well, I'm not your friend anymore. You can take our friendship card and stick it up your ass because I'm done with this friendship."

"Rubes?"

"FUCK YOU!" she yelled, sobbing, storming away.

They went to Steaksmith. Ruby excused herself from the manager's table to drink with her friends. She downed down tequila shots like rapid fire.

"Look at him," said Russell.

"Don't look at him," said Lon.

"He's at the big boys table now," said Iqbal. "Oh, no offense, Rubes."

"None taken," Ruby said, drunk.

"At least Rubes is a good manager," said Lon.

"Hey, Lonnie, give me that lime," she said, smiling. "I bet you that I could hit Zack's forehead…while under the influence."

"Done," said Russell.

"OK, Russ, commentary. Lon, field goal, Iqbal, cheering crowd sound effects," she said, slurring her speech. Lon made a field goal with his fingers. There were at least three of them floating around that she wasn't sure which one was real.

"Right," said Russell. Then, in his commentary voice over, "Redford is lining up for the kick. The look of determination…or is that drunken stupidity?"

"Shaddup," she slurred, punching him in the shoulder, playfully, laughing.

"It's a tough kick," Russell continued in his commentary voice. "Redford's been dealing with a hangnail all season."

"OK, Russell," she said, rolling her eyes.

"It's into the wind," Lon commented and blew towards Ruby.

Ruby wiped off some spit on her face.

"There's a bit of a drizzle too," Ruby said.

Everyone laughed.

"Here it is," Ruby said. "Here's the kick. It's up…" Ruby flicked the lime and it sped across the room and smacked Zack in the forehead.

"It's good!" Ruby said.

They all laughed and cheered quietly, keeping out of earshot of management.

"Nice one, Lubes," said Russell.

Zack got up from the table and went towards the bar to confront his angry friends.

"What's up, fellas?" said Zack. "I don't know who threw the lime, but that was a good shot."

Nobody looked at him.

"Actually, I kicked the lime at you. I just won the Super Bowl," Ruby said, drunk.

Zack ignored her, knowing she was drunk. "Check it out, Iqbal. Listen to this. I know you got fired, but I'm getting pretty tight with management now and I think I could turn this thing around."

"That's it?" said Iqbal. "You're tight with management?"

"You used to be tight with us," Ruby said. "With your friends."

"Rubes is right," said Iqbal. "You used to be someone we could count on."

"But not anymore," said Ruby. "I'm sick and tired of sticking up for you Zack."

"Yea," said Russell. "What happened to you, man? You're like the drummer from REO Speedwagon. Nobody knows who you are. You're becoming one of them. You're turning into Vince."

"Wait a second. I'm not like Vince," said Zack.

"No," Ruby slurred, feeling sick. "You're worse. At least Vince isn't pretending to be an asshole."

"You're pretending to be one of them just to get into Amy's pants," said Iqbal.

"Step off," said Lon, jumping up from his seat. "The Zack we knew wouldn't have sold out his friends just because some slinky-ass blonde tart would sleep with the employee of the month. So just step off."

"Yea. And at least Rubes doesn't care about you winning E of M," said Russell. "In fact, Rubes has been trying to work up the courage to tell you how much she likes you."

"RUSSELL!" Ruby screamed, red in the face. "HOW COULD YOU?!"

"Sorry, Rubes," said Russell.

Zack stared at Ruby, who was drunk, red-faced and teary-eyed. He was speechless: his best friend had feelings for him? She never said anything to him. Yet, she had been dropping hints all month and now it finally made sense.

"What?" he said, unable to speak. "You…you like me?"

"Is that true?" said a voice coming from behind Zack. They all turned to see a disgusted Amy, standing at the bar. Apparently, she had heard everything. She left the bar.

"Hey, Amy," said Zack, chasing after her.

"Was that the blonde tart?" whispered Lon.

"Yea," said Iqbal.

"Did she hear me?"

"Yea."

Ruby took more shots of tequila, ignoring the gag reflex as she chugged the alcohol. She started towards the door, feeling confident and angry for her friend's betrayal. She heard Amy talking to Zack, saying,

"You want to know if I screwed the employee of the month at my last job?"

"No."

"Well, I did. But he was also my boyfriend, and a conniving, lying asshole-user, just like you. You employee of the months are all the same." She walked away, disgusted.

"Amy! Amy!" he called.

"Oh, sure, Zack!" Ruby screamed, drunk, barely holding the door open. "You always run after them! You've always been that way ever since the high school! Leaving your loser best friend behind while the little homing missile in your pants follows after the pretty ones." She chucked a lime at Zack and it hit him in the back of the head. "BASTARD!"

Everyone that was outside was staring at her, but she didn't care. Ruby tripped on the walkway and fell on her knees; her knees were scrapped and bled. Zack ran to her and helped her up, but she pushed him away. He pulled her up, resisting her weak attempts to push him away. His friend was in terrible shape: she was teary, red-eyed and it didn't look like she had slept much. Plus she didn't look like she showered either…and he could smell the alcohol on her breath.

"Rubes, how much did you have to drink tonight?" he asked.

"None of your fuckin' business, you…"

Soon, the wave of nausea hit Ruby and she couldn't hold it anymore and vomit burst out from her mouth and all over Zack's face and neck. Ruby gasped in embarrassment, covering her vomit covered mouth.

Zack could taste the stomach acid and the horrible smell made him want to vomit, but yet he felt terrible about what happened to his friend: how he hurt her feelings by dumping her for Amy, how she went out of her way to nominate him employee of the month and to help him earn a gold star in order to win.

Ruby soon passed out, landing on Zack's vomit-covered shirt. She was heavy. He slung her arm over his shoulder and carried her to her car and placing her in the passenger seat. She laid in the driver's seat, snoring, smelling of alcohol and vomit and filth.

Yet, he couldn't help but realize how alone he was: his friends were mad at him, Amy, the girl that he liked hated him, and now, he realized that his best friend had feelings for him, but not only that, he was completely oblivious to those feelings hated him even more. What to do? He liked Amy, but Ruby had been his best friend for all his life and yet, she didn't care about things like who won employee of the month. He leaned against the car, remembering all the stuff they did as kids: wrestling, climbing trees, hanging out in the tree house and reading comic books, playing sports, especially football; Ruby didn't even mind getting dirty or rough-housing.

He went back inside the restaurant and grabbed Ruby's purse and drove her back to her apartment and carried her upstairs and laid her gently on the bed…

He went back to Super Club, looking at Iqbal's empty locker and he sat in the Loser's Clubhouse, looking at the photos of Ruby and him when they were kids. He realized that all his friends were right: he had abandoned his friends to put his needs first in order to win Amy's heart. He was worse than Vince: he was just a loser who lived with his grandmother. If he wanted to redeem himself for all his actions, he had to take full responsibility: tell Glenn Gary about how he was supposed to cover for Iqbal and just walked out on his job, apologize to his friends, especially to Ruby, and resign from his job. He knew he didn't deserve to be Employee of the Month.

He walked into his grandmother's house, driving the motorcycle toy he had bought, depressed. He slammed the alarm off when it was 7:00 AM, choosing to stay home and eat pizza and soda all day in his pajamas. He called work to tell them that he quit.

"Why aren't you dressed for work?" asked his grandma. "Isn't today the big day?"

"I quit," said Zack, munching on a pizza crust.

"Why?"

"I screwed up, Grams," he said depressed. "My friends hate me. Amy hates me. Even Ruby, my best friend, hates me too." He paused. "Everybody's right about me. I'm a loser."

"Well, you're certainly dressed for the part."

"Thanks, Grams."

"You know that loser who lost all my retirement money? Well, at least that guy actually tried. I'll take the old Zack any day."

"I also found out that Ruby has feelings for me last night…and yet, all this time, I had no idea…I really hurt her, Grams."

"You know, I think Ruby had feelings for you for a long time. Ever since we took her in when her dad had to go to rehab, she's been in love with you ever since. When I saw her at the supermarket that day when we met Amy, I could in her eyes that she was in love with you…I guess she hadn't had a chance to tell you her feelings because…well, she was always afraid to lose her best friend." She kneeled next to Zack. "Just tell her you're sorry for hurting her. Who knows? She may forgive you."

Ruby woke up with a hangover: her head pounding, her clothes covered in vomit, and dried-out drool was all over her face. She heard a knock on the door and it felt like someone was knocking on her skull with a mallet.

"Go to hell!" she moaned loudly.

Then, the doorbell rang.

"Go to hell!"

"Ruby?" said Zack's voice outside the door. "Ruby, are you awake?"

Ruby sat up, rubbing her head. She saw that she was still in yesterday's vomit-covered clothes that were wrinkled.

"What the…?" she moaned. "Just a moment." She called.

She threw off her clothes that she was wearing, wearing only her underwear and threw on a bathrobe, putting her hair up in a banana clip and opened the door. Zack stood there, looking serious.

"Hey," he said.

She inverted her lips in annoyance, biting them on the inside and crossing her arms, leaning demurely against the doorframe.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Just hear me out, OK, Ruby?" He looked at her: red-eyed, mussed up hair in a banana clip in her bathrobe.

"I want to apologize for what happened: for hurting your feelings, failing to acknowledge them and for being a terrible friend, and my behavior. Also, I wanted to thank you for nominating me for Employee of the Month. I should've done it earlier…if I had known…I would've still been that slacker who lived with his grandmother."

Ruby raised her eyebrows, seemed a bit persuaded.

"Zack, I accept your apology. I'm sorry too…for being such a bitch," she replied. "And for throwing up on you last night."

"Oh, it's OK. I deserved it anyway. A friend who betrays a friend deserves to get vomited on."

Ruby laughed.

"I talked to Glenn Gary and I gave my resignation," he said.

"WHAT?!" she exclaimed. "You quit?!"

"I had to…after what you said to me the other day about putting my needs before others, you were right. I take full responsibility for what happened. I got Iqbal's job back as well."

"I see. Well, you'd better go tell him. Do you want to come in?"

"Yea, sure."

"Feel free to sit. I'm going to shower and get ready for work."

"You're still going to work, even though you have a hangover from last night?"

"Have to. I'm supposed to be there with the managers as a judge for the E of M. Also, I got a report to turn in by tonight."

"What report?"

"Something on why the store has been making too much money. I've noticed this since I became manager so I've been doing some digging in the store's inventory logs and the money logs. My guess is that someone is either not ringing up the items correctly OR someone is giving stuff away for free. I'm having Semi go through the security tapes, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet. My guess is he's still going through the tapes from last year. I'll probably know soon as I speak to Semi. I got to turn this report in tonight before the banquet."

Ruby washed her hair, threw on her manager's uniform, spritzed on gardenia perfume and put on make-up. Zack looked at his best friend, she looked much better.

"You look very nice," he said, smiling.

"Thanks."

They drove to Iqbal's house. Ruby stood next to Zack, watching and listening as Zack apologized to his friends. He told Iqbal about how he got his job back.

"I don't want the job back," he said.

"What?" said Zack and Ruby at the same time.

"Turns out me getting fired gave Humera the courage to demand a position last night. I'm a stay-at-home Daddy now. Can you believe it? I should be thanking you, Zack."

"You know, Iqbal, you said something the other day and you were right," Zack said. "The universe does have a plan. I'm going to win that competition. And I'm not going to do it for employee of the month, I'm not going to do it to beat Vince, I'm not even going to do it for Amy. I'm going to do it for myself. For pride. But I need you guys." He looked at all four of his friends who were smiling at him now. "Are you with me?"

"We never went anywhere," said Iqbal.

"Yea, but wait a minute, Zack," said Lon. "You just said you quit."

"Yea, that does pose a problem," said Zack.

"Hey," said Russell. "We got you covered, guy. Nothing a little broken chocolate can fix."

"Let's not forget you have a friend who happens to be manager. Let Manager Redford work her magic."

"Of course. Good ol' Lubes can do the job," said Russell.

They piled into Iqbal's car and sped off to Super Club.


	9. The Final Showdown

Chapter 8

The Final Showdown

"Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention, please," said Glenn Gary. "I have a sad announcement. Zack Bradley quit this morning."

"YES!" Vince cheered loudly. "Come on!"

"So, it looks like Vince is going to be…"

The walkie-talkie on Glenn Gary's belt suddenly made a loud static noise.

"Manager Glenn Gary, this is Manager Ruby Redford," said Ruby's voice on the walkie talkie.

"Excuse me," he said to the employees. He pressed the button to answer. "What is it, Manager Redford? I'm having a meeting."

"I'm just letting you know that Zack Bradley didn't actually quit. Look forward."

Glenn Gary's mouth dropped open when he saw Ruby holding the walkie talkie in her hand with the Losers Gang behind her, walking towards the crowd.

"Oh, no, no, no, no…" said Vince. "No. he already quit. You said. And everyone heard and then…"

"Actually," said Ruby. "The papers were never filed."

Russell looked in the direction of Lily, the personnel manager, who was munching quietly on a Butterfingers candy bar.

"Oh my goodness," said Vince. "You sold yourself for a candy bar?"

"Is…is that true? Is he still employed?" asked Glenn Gary.

Lily nodded.

"How could you? Put that chocolate bar down and do your job!" Vince hissed at Lily.

"Manager Redford, did you see the paperwork for Zack's resignation?"

"Yes, sir, I did," Ruby said. "I found the paper work on Miss Lily's desk before she got here, but they were never filed. According to the Manager's Handbook, the resignation has to be valid with signature of personnel manager first and then, a salaried manager second. Since there was no signature from either, the papers are null and void."

"Alright!" said Glen Ross. "Let's get this party started."

"Alright!" said Glenn Ross. "OK! Now we're talking. It's a virtual tie for Employee of the Month. Today's work will determine the winner. Now, we've placed the exact amount of products in each cart, along with a curveball or two. Oh! It's going to be fun!" He paused. "So, whoever has the fastest ring rate will win it all."

Everyone cheered and clapped.

Ruby watched as Zack went over to Amy to apologize. She had that old feeling of jealousy…still, she didn't want to lose her only best friend because of her own pig-headed jealousy. Maybe it was time to let Zack go…let him go and be there as his friend like she promised herself…perhaps it just wasn't in the cards for them…

The Losers Gang gathered around.

"OK," said Zack. "Let's do this." He pulled on his apron. "Oh! I need somebody to box for me."

"OK," said Lon. "You know what, I'll do it."

"Come on, come on, dingle eyes," said Russell. "Take a left."

"Hey, man," said Zack, shaking hands with Russell. "Thanks, brother."

"OK, everyone," said Dirk. "Be safe out there." He raised the whistle and shouted. "GO!"

Soon, two cashiers were piling stuff on the register and Vince and Zack rang up every item. There was a mingle of cheers and shouts and beeping from the register as items sped through the register. It looked like Vince was going really fast, but Zack had a look of determination on his face as he kept ringing them up.

"GO ZACK!" screamed Ruby.

Suddenly Zack began to slack off…but quickly regained his speed. There were cheers and items were thrown at Russell and Jorge as they boxed the items.

"Oh, one more item," said Glenn Gary.

Zack finished ringing up his items and went over to the last item at the bottom of the cart. Vince jumped over the counter and pulled his gun towards him, but it was tangled around Jorge's feet and he yanked it, causing Jorge to go airborne and fall on his back. The two of them struggled to find a UPC number but it was missing.

"Curveball," said Glenn Gary.

"Uh oh," said Dirk. "What to do? No price check available."

"Come on! GET OUT OF THERE, GUYS!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Come on! Run! RUN!" Ruby screamed.

Zack and Vince took the tires and put them over their shoulders and raced to the automotive department. Zack was in the lead. Soon, two carts came out of nowhere, blocking the path.

"Open-ended cart!" shouted Dirk.

"What do you do?" said Glenn Gary. "What do you do?"

Zack and Vince shoved their tires into the cart and began to replace all the items in their cart back on the shelves as neatly as possible.

"Restock the shelves," said Dirk.

"Be careful with the items," said Ruby.

Zack and Vince began to restack the shelves with the items in their cart as neatly as possible. Soon, their carts had been emptied from all the carts. Vince crashed into Zack's cart, shouting,

"Surrender! Surrender, box boy!"

They grabbed the tires with a marked prices and shoved them in the carts.

"Curveball!" shouted Ruby in the crowd.

"Old woman in need of assistance," said Dirk, who was, apparently, dressed as an old lady, driving a go-cart. Ruby almost burst into laughing; who knew what that guy did at home alone. "Bunion pads, please!"

Zack and Vince looked up in the direction he was pointing and then, he leapt on the shelves and began to climb. Zack slipped and Vince was already climbing up the shelves like a monkey.

"Use your wits, Zack," Ruby shouted.

He saw a case of car oil and grabbed it and threw it up at the bunion pads on the top shelf. One fell, hitting Vince in the head, and landed directly into Zack's hands. He ran towards his cart and took off. Soon another bunion pad tumbled down with Vince. He too got up and raced to his cart with the tire. He returned the cart back to the cart area and ran towards the register with the tire on his shoulder. Vince dropped and rolled the tire towards the register, which rolled right past Zack. Jorge grabbed the register gun and…

*BEEP* ***TIRE 59.99***

There was a sea of applause, shouting and cheering from all the employees.

"The tiebreaker goes to Vince Downey!" shouted Glenn Gary.

Zack look defeated. His friends gathered around his register. Vince looked like he was putting on a fake sobbing face to make it look like he was so happy that he won, he was crying…probably to get more people to cheer for him. Typical! He stood on the register, holding the tire up like it was a wrestler's belt after he had won the match.

"Man, you did your best," said Lon.

"Be proud," said Iqbal.

"You did great," Ruby said.

"It wasn't enough," said Zack. "I blew it."

"No, you didn't!" Ruby said.

Zack walked away, still looking defeated.

However, Semi wasn't too sure about this contest. He remembered something Ruby told him…she asked him to look at the videos…damn! He forgot! So he went to check out the security tapes from today's competition…

XXXXX

Ruby sat in her office, looking through her report on her computer, running her fingers through her hair, frustrated as of what to write for her conclusion for her report. She had been working on this for weeks…only to find she had no conclusion…

She slammed her laptop shut and sighed, head in hands and rubbing her temples.

"Miss Ruby?" said Semi's voice from the doorway.

"Yea?" she moaned, rubbing her head.

"I think there's something you ought to see. It's about the competition."

"I can't look at that right now…I have to finish this stupid report before the banquet…"

"It has to do with your report…"

She looked up, interested.

"OK. Show me."

He led her into the security room and played the tape that was over Vince's register. Ruby sat and watched it. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be seeing, Semi," she said.

"Watch the oats," he said.

"Huh?"

"The oats. Watch the oats."

He rewound the tape to Vince's register. There was something moving behind Vince's back…

"Wait! Play that again, in slow-mo."

Semi played it in slow motion and she saw Vince toss the oats behind his back to the register. Her mouth opened with shock and then a smile spread on her face.

"Why that conniving, little snake in the grass," she said, laughing. "I knew someone was giving stuff away for free…" She paused. "Semi, do you have all the tapes from last year?"

"Sure. Well, I guess you got a report, Miss Ruby," said Semi.

"Yea…" she said, smiling. "Thank you, Semi. Take the tape of the competition to the banquet and stall them as long as you can. I'll get my report printed out and ready. I know I already collected the money from today and they haven't been removed from the money from the bags yet. We're gonna need all the evidence to put this criminal away."

Semi smiled.

"Will I get a raise for this, Miss Ruby?"

She smiled back. "I'll make sure you get one."

XXXXX

Later that evening, Glenn Gary and the managers were standing at the podium. The employees were sitting at the tables, looking towards the stage.

"Excuse me, everyone," said Glenn Gary. "Excuse me."

Everyone was quiet and Glen Ross stood in front of everyone, looking proud.

"Well," he began. "Never in the history of Super Club has anyone been employee of the month 18 times in a row. But tonight, someone has." He turned to his brother. "The complaint box, please, just to make sure."

Glenn Gary placed the complaint box on the podium and slowly opened it.

"Oh, there is something here," said Glenn Gary.

Everyone at the edge of their seats in anticipation as of what it would say. He unfolded the paper slowly and read:

"Super Club blows."

There was a slight applause.

"Whoo!" said Glen Ross. "That was close, huh, Vince?"

Vince heaved a sigh of relief.

"Our champion and winner of a brand newish Chevy Malibu, Vince Downey! Downey! Downey! Downey!"

There was loud applause and cheering from the crowd and balloons of red and blue fell from the ceiling like confetti. Vince stepped up to the podium with tears in his eyes to make some sort of inspirational speech like he had won a fucking Academy Award. The Losers Gang just rolled their eyes and refused to applause.

"Say, where's Rubes anyway?" asked Lon.

"I think she had to work on something," said Iqbal. "Said some important report."

"Oh, thank you!" Vince said, sniffling. "You are such an inspiration. And all of you, little people that make Super Club the place it is."

"You're an ass," Lon whispered while his buddies agreed.

"You are the scaffolding on top of which I stand so high right now. And you, Zack," he turned to Zack who looked defeated, slouching in his chair. "You made it a race. Thank you. But I won."

"Excuse me, sir," said Semi. "I think there's something you ought to see." He was holding up a tape.

Semi was flanked by Ruby who was holding papers and a money bag.

"OK, big 'uns, why don't you go kill a couple of sandwiches there?" Vince said in order to distract the crowd. "Go ahead, find you way back to the dessert card and graze a little bit."

"Not right now, Semi," said Glenn Gary. "We're in the middle of something. And Ruby, you can give me the report tomorrow."

"Actually, sir," said Ruby. "I think you really ought to see this. It's part of my report as well."

"Surveillance footage from the competition, sir," said Semi.

"We're in the middle of a celebration," said Glenn Gary. Semi only pushed through Vince and Glenn Gary. "OK, alright." He whispered to Dirk. "He is very large."

"This is unconventional," said Vince. "Listen. But I want to recap. I did some amazing things today."

A black and white screen appeared on the large TV once Semi placed the tape inside the VCR.

"Sir, watch this," said Semi. He pressed the play button on the remote and the tape began to play.

"That's the kind of speed that won me the southwest regional competition," Vince continued to brag. "I'm embarrassed, actually."

"Vince, shut the fuck up!" Ruby whispered.

He did indeed shut up. Dirk and Glenn Gary were squinting at the TV, trying to see what they were supposed to see.

"Sir," said Semi. "I'll rewind it again. But this time, watch the oats."

He rewound the tape and soon there was the image of Vince tossing the oats behind his backs. There were gasps of horror.

"Well, what…" Vince stammered.

"Hold on," said Semi. "Watch the oats."

He played it again in slow-mo. There were more gasps of horror and shock.

"He tampered with it," Vince said, stammering. "I mean, Zack clearly paid the retard. It's…it's a forgery."

"Am I seeing this correctly?" Glen Ross asked.

"You see," said Semi. "He didn't rung it up. Not only did he cheat during the competition, he's been giving away stuff for free all year long."

"Absurd," Vince said, laughing it off.

"You see, I got the tapes to prove it," said Semi.

"What a ridiculous allegation!"

"And I have my evidence to back it up as well," said Ruby, holding up papers. "In my hand, I hold the reports from accounting and inventory logs. But, the tape was just the clincher of my report."

"Report?" Glen Ross asked, confused. "What report?" He looked at Glenn Gary.

"Mr. Ross, since I've become floor manager of this store, it has come to my attention that there has been a huge spike in money. Now, normally, once in a while, we will have a spike in money, but this has been a repeated pattern that couldn't be ignored. I brought this to Mr. Glenn Gary's attention about this concern and he asked me to do an investigation on this. I've been working on it all week."

Everyone was so impressed with this that he was very interested in her report, even Glen Ross was interested.

"May I?" she asked Glenn Gary and Glen Ross.

They nodded with approval.

"Go on," said Glen Ross. "I'd like to hear this report you have worked on."

Ruby placed her papers on the podium, snatching the microphone out of Vince's hand and placing it on the podium microphone holder. She began to speak.

"Anyway, I checked with each department's inventory logs and it turns out that there was a huge increase in inventory. As part of my conclusion, I believed that there were only three theories for the spikes in money and inventory: first, a malfunction in register. I checked the maintenance records and work orders placed by the store. There hasn't been a malfunction report in over six months. Second, the cashier was not ringing up the item properly. I kept my eye on all cashiers that day and it appeared that all cashiers were scanning items properly and systems appeared to be working fine. Which brings me to my third, a cashier was giving stuff away for free. Whenever I passed Vince's register, I spotted something suspicious: at first, I thought my eyes were fooling me, but I could've sworn I saw something being tossed up in the air that day when the Employee of the Month started. Of course, I could've been wrong. Second, all those times I passed Vince's register, I could remember him saying, '15 minutes or it's on me.' That, of course, aroused my suspicions and I began looking into accounting. I wasn't able to narrow down which register was doing this until Semi showed me the security tapes. I went through Check-stand 1's money drawer from today and I counted the other registers money as well, since they hadn't been done by accounting yet. I found my conclusion: Check-stand 1's money was over about $200 more than the other registers. I found the source of our spike."

"Sir, they're right," said Dirk. "These are from the registers. Same cart. Same amount of items. Different totals."

There were more gasps of horror.

"Vince Downey!" Glenn Gary said.

"You're the fastest, alright," said Semi. "Fastest criminal in the southwest."

Vince took off in a run…

"HEY!" Ruby shouted.

Semi jumped on top of Vince; Ruby made an 'ouch' face and was sure he had broken something from landing on top of Vince.

"That's why they call you Semi," Vince moaned as his ribs were being crushed under Semi's massive weight.

"Vince Downey," said Glenn Gary. "You are a disgrace to me and to Super Club chain! I am not proud of you!"

"Get that scum out of here before I kick his ass!" yelled Glen Ross, pointing his cane at him.

Semi got up and picked Vince up by the belt and hauled him out of Super Club. Jorge found Vince's wrist brace on the floor and picked it up and held it tightly, looking at his fallen idol being dragged out to the street like a sack of garbage.

Glenn Gary, Dirk and Ruby gathered together and talked.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"Well, since Vince cheated," Ruby said. "Wouldn't that consider him disqualified?"

Dirk and Glenn nodded in agreement.

"So, it should go to the runner-up," said Dirk.

They nodded in agreement.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Glenn Gary, returning to the podium. "It looks like employee of the month will go to the runner-up, Zack Bradley."

Zack looked surprised at first and then, Glenn Gary pulled him to his feet and a smile spread across his face. There was a burst of cheering and applause.

"Yes! Yes. Congratulations!" Glenn Gary said.

Ruby jumped on her friend and wrapped her arms around him.

"You did it!" she squealed.

"Thanks!" he said.

He went through the crowd, shaking hands with his fellow employees and went towards Amy. They said the same thing at the same time.

"Listen I just wanted…" Laughter. "You go."

They laughed again. Then, Amy did something that hurt the most. She took Zack's face and kissed him. Ruby sighed, hurt. She went off the stage and towards the door, hanging her head.

"Rubes!" Iqbal said. "Where are you going?"

"Outside," she said. "For some air."

"But, you should be here, celebrating," said Lon.

"I don't feel like celebrating really."

"What? What's wrong, Lubes?" asked Russell.

"He chose Amy," she said, sadly.

"What? And you're just giving up?" Iqbal exclaimed.

"I have to let it go," Ruby said, biting back her pain. "I have to accept it and let it go. Perhaps it's just not in the cards for us. Perhaps we're just meant to be friends."

She pushed past her friends and went outside to get some air. She lied on the hood of her car, looking at the stars, sighing. Though her heart was aching, she knew she had to let him go.

XXXXX

Zack pulled back from Amy to look at her.

"So, does this mean you only go after the…" he asked.

"I guess you'll have to find out next month," she said.

She was about to kiss him a second time when he saw Ruby was not there with the other managers, cheering him on.

"What?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"Amy," he said. "I can't."

"What do you mean?"

"I like you, Amy," he said. "But I just can't do this. If I'm going to have to break someone's heart, I'm afraid it's going to be yours…because I broke someone's heart a long time ago once."

Amy looked at Zack and finally understood.

"It's her, isn't it?" she said, kindly. "Zack, if you care about her, then go to her."

Zack gave her a kiss on the cheek and went towards the table where his friends were.

"Hey guys," said Zack. "Where's Rubes?"

"She went outside," said Russell. "She was very upset, guy."

"OK. Well, then, I got to do something to make up for what I did…years ago…" He and his friends formed a huddle. "Here's the plan…"


	10. Let's Spend the Night Together

Chapter 9

Let's Spend the Night Together

_Prom Night, 1990s_

Billy Hayden was holding an after prom party: the music was pumped, booze littered on the table, drunk teenagers laughing, some boys and girls were making out on the couch and then, running off towards bedrooms or wherever. Ruby, in her green dress, standing next to her date, her best friend ever, Zack. He was so ruggedly handsome in his tux and his corsage that she picked out for him: a yellow rose. Perhaps this would be the night that she could tell him how she felt because she had feelings for him since the fifth grade. Maybe lose her virginity to him. She smiled impishly. She had saved up all her allowance to buy sexy panties and condoms. After all, the prom was supposed to be a night to remember.

Her dad had been drilling into her the importance about safe sex since she was a child:

"Remember, Rubes, if you're gonna have sex, be safe. Wear a condom."

God! Her father was so embarrassing! He didn't know what she had in mind and frankly it was none of his business.

"Hey, Rubes," Zack said. "Wanna grab a beer?"

"Sure," she said.

Zack grabbed two beers and handed Ruby one. They sat on the couch, popping off the bottle caps.

"Wow! I feel so...wrong..." Ruby said, giggling.

"I know, that's why it's so great," said Zack. He raised his beer bottle. "I'd like to propose a toast: to our friendship. Rubes Tues, you are a great friend to have."

"Here's to our friendship," she said, with a little bit of hesitance in her voice.

"Cheers."

They clinked their bottles and took a sip. They sat on the couch, watching idiot teens drink themselves stupid and make out. She sat there, drinking her beer with her best friend, thinking about what she was going to say to him. She stared at Zack, looking at his features: his smooth shaven face, his once neat brown hair became messy. His collar was undone, his sleeves were rolled up and his tux had been thrown somewhere.

"Um...Zack?" Ruby said, taking another sip from her beer.

"Yea?" he said, looking at Ruby.

"There's something I want to ask...well, more like tell..."

"OK."

"Well, um...it's...well, how long have we known each other?"

"Since the second grade."

"Yea. Anyway, what I want to tell you..."

"Zack Bradley!" said a rather annoying voice.

Goddammit! It was that annoying, slutty cheerleader, Crystal Harmond. She was puffing her large, double-Ds towards Zack, batting her heavy eye make-up eyelashes and had a really low, cut dress that showed off her cleavage. Clearly, puberty had hit Crystal early and she got her wish to have big boobs.

"Crystal!" he said. "You sure do look nice."

"Yea. So, could I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure. Ruby, do you mind?"

Ruby was quite miffed, but plastered a fake smile on her face. "No. Not at all. I guess it could wait."

"Thanks, Rubes. You're a great friend."

She watched as he disappeared into the back room, holding Crystal's hand. She sat there like a pathetic loser, drinking her beer alone. Her opportunity was right there and the door was slammed in her face.

XXXX

She remembered that night and those six words that he said that night. Prom night was the most painful memory. For as long as she knew Zack, she always lost the opportunity to tell him how she felt about him because a buxom girl stole him from her. But, perhaps it was time to accept that she and Zack were just not meant to be, no matter how painful it was.

She got up and went to the locker room. Ruby went to her locker to get her purse to go home, completely depressed. Maybe a nice box of Double-Stuf Oreos™ or a tub of Betty Crocker's ™ cake frosting or a box of Ho-Ho's ™ would be a perfect therapy session. There was note attached to the front. She opened it and it read:

_Let's go back to yesteryear to relive Prom Night. Meet me here after the store banquet is over. Be sure to wear something nice._

Ruby smiled and shook her head, tucking the note into her pocket and went home to change out of her manager's outfit and into her cocktail dress that she spent so much money on, along with her lingerie and tucked condoms inside her purse. She fixed up her make-up came over, her stilettos clacking. She came back to an empty Super Club and found Iqbal, Lon, and Russ dressed in tuxedos, smiling and leading her to the empty floor where the abandoned tables and stage were from the banquet not three hours ago. It was dark.

She stood in the middle of the floor where there were empty chairs and tables. It was dark and quiet…

Soon, there were footsteps behind her and there he was: messy, just rolled out of bed hair, unshaven face, an impish smile on his face, dressed in a tux. He was holding a corsage with pink roses and baby's breath.

"Hey," he said.

"What's this all about?" she asked.

"We're going back to yesteryear, the night of the prom. Oh, and this is for you." He held up the corsage. "May I?"

She nodded and he opened the box and slipped it onto her wrist.

"Care to dance?"

"Sure."

Soon, he signaled Iqbal and he pressed play on a stereo and the song began to play. The song they slow-danced at the prom: _Let My Love Open the Door_ by Pete Townsend.

"You remembered our song?" she said.

"How could I forget? You dragged me out on the dance floor."

She smiled and looked into Zack's brown eyes, shyly. She remembered how wonderful that slow dance was. It was the best minutes of her life. The first time Zack had held her, looking into her eyes. Only this time, it felt much better, more real, much nicer. She laid her head on Zack's shoulder, drowning herself in the niceness of it all.

"Zack," she said.

"Mm?" he said.

"I...I've been meaning to tell you for so long...but, every time I had the opportunity, the door slammed in my face, therefore I could never..."

Suddenly, he pulled her face to his lips and her talking was silenced by a fabulous kiss. A kiss that she had wanted to experience for a long time. Ruby felt her knees buckle, her body melted like butter, and her blood heat up. Zack pulled back and smiled.

"How was that?" he asked.

Ruby just stared, silent, unable to find her words.

"Why the hell did you stop?" she said, laughing.

He kissed her again and they continued to dance.

"Wanna blow this place?" he said with an impish grin.

"Yea," she said, grinning back. "My place?"

He grinned impishly. " got anything?" he asked.

"Booze and rubbers."

"You came prepared, Lubes." He gave a cocky smile that matched her face.

"Care to do a little re-enactment of Prom Night?" She giggled. "You know the part where I lose my virginity to my best friend this time?"

"I'm game." He eyed her up and down, seeing the curve of her breasts. "I bet you were hot under that dress back then."

"Well, my friend, you didn't really miss much…well, except that time you touched my boob when we were wrestling."

"We were eleven. And you were cheating."

"Liar. It was there for like five minutes."

"Well, you matured early. I couldn't help it if it was so…" He lost his words, remembering. "Soft."

"Well, let's bail."

"Right behind you, Lubes."

They raced to the car, both of them laughing like two horny teenagers. Ruby drove to her apartment and they raced up the stairs. Once at the door, she opened it with her shaking hands.

"Booze in the fridge," said Ruby. "Well, you know where my room is, don't you?"

"All those times I've been over playing video games with you, I sure do," Zack replied. He grabbed some beer from the fridge and opened two of them. He opened his collar and tossed his tux on a chair, kicking off his shoes and socks. Ruby came in, wearing her silk bathrobe. She lied on the bed next to Zack and he handed her a beer bottle.

"Here's to friends…and lovers," Zack said.

"Cheers."

The classes clinked and they chugged down a beer.

"Mind if I start?" he asked.

He untied the sash to her silk robe and found her wearing a camisole and matching underwear. He tossed her robe on the floor. She straddled him and began fumbling with the buttons on his shirt and unzipping his pants. Both were on the floor instantly only to be followed by her cami and two pairs of underwear.

XXX

Ruby's alarm clock buzzed in background at 7:00. She looked at a sleeping Zack, who looked satisfied after the night of carnal desire.

"Hey, good morning," she said.

"Morning," he said."Well, looks like we got to get up for work."

"Maybe not," she said, grinning impishly. "We could call in sick."

He nodded.

"Good idea."

She picked up the phone.

"Hi, Glenn Gary, it's Ruby. I'm calling in sick today. See you tomorrow."

Zack smiled. He called in sick as well on his cell phone. They faced each other and smiled.

"Wanna do it again?"

"You bet."

They kissed and rolled around in the bed.

THE END


End file.
